The Gifted Ones
by Evee-chan
Summary: A sort of NarutoxHeroes crossover. Crazy things are happening; Naruto can't believe he's alive, Ino is hearing voices, animals are talking to Kiba, etc. What's more, the Gifted Ones are taking over. And what's Sasuke got to do with this? Slight SasuNaru
1. Part 1: Prologue

**The Gifted Ones**

A sort of Naruto/Heroes crossover, the Naruto characters will have powers from Heroes.

**Summary:** Crazy things are happening; Naruto can't believe he's alive, Ino is hearing voices, animals are talking to Kiba, etc. What's more, the Gifted Ones are taking over. What the hell is going on?

**Pairings:** Not really focusing on the pairings but there'll be slightly SasuNaru and more later.

**Part 1 – Prologue**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes, so don't sue.

**Note:**_**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects.

* * *

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beep, beep…**_

Everything was a blur. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was white. My vision was hazy and very unclear. I didn't know where I was or how I got here. As I looked around, I noticed that I was on a bed, in a room that is very similar to a hospital room; except that there was a lot more electronic equipment around. The room, for reasons I was not too sure, was giving off eerie vibes, like something was not right about it.

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beep, beep…**_

I slowly blinked my eyes to clear my sight, yet it was still as fuzzy as ever. Why does my body feel so heavy? And then there was the question of where I was and what I was doing here. Did I get myself injured and got sent to the hospital?

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beep, beep…**_

The last thing I faintly remembered was that I had been running away from someone. I was running like my life depended on it and could never stop until I lost the guy. Yet, despite of my efforts, the man had somehow managed to get an obviously chemical-soaked cloth over my mouth and everything went black. I can't remember anything after that. Does that mean I was kidnapped? That would explain the eeriness.

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beep, beep…**_

I turned my head to the side to see some people like me; who were also sleeping on a bed, lined up in a row. My vision was still not so clear, but I was able to make out the person sleeping on the bed next to mine. He had really pale skin and black hair. His hair, I noticed, was up in a weird style, though I can't really tell with him lying on the bed and with my eyes as blurry as it is.

"Well, well. You're awake. You sure do recover quicker than most…"

I turned my head to face a man that I have never seen before. Then again, my eyes were too blurry to make out who he was or make any note on any details about the person. Though, I did notice red eyes, piercing eyes that you just can't ignore.

"…But of course, that would be of no surprise to me, you being you, Naruto."

His voice was soft, yet it clearly held authority in it. I narrowed my eyes as he said my name. Who is this man?

"Who are you?" I cursed how hoarse my voice sounded.

I may not be able to see clearly, but I could tell the guy was smirking.

"That is of no importance right now. Right now, you need to rest; close your eyes and everything will be all over."

He leaned over and gently placed a hand over my eyes.

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beep, beep…**_

I had not a single clue what happened, but it felt like I was slowly, but surely, loosing conscious again, until I couldn't register anything anymore.

_**Beep, beep…**_

_**Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…**_


	2. Part 1: Chapter 1

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 1:**** Cheating Death**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes, so don't sue.

**WARNING:** Language (swearing) and violent scene.

**Note:**_**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

-- **Japan: Konoha **-- 

_**BUZZ!! BUZZ!! BUZZ!!**_

Naruto sprung up on his bed as his digital alarm clock went off, his whole body was practically sweating like a waterfall. His head was pounding and his face was flushed. Was that all just a dream? If it was just a dream, then it felt too real to be one. (A/N: Referring to the prologue, read prologue if you haven't already.)

_Dream? It was more like a nightmare._

Naruto grunted as he slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock to shut it up. The clock was flashing 'Monday 7:30', only 1 hour before school starts. The boy groaned at that. How he hated Mondays. Mondays meant the start of the 5 day school days and school meant listening to Iruka-sensei lecturing about god-knows-what. Not that he had anything against the strict teacher, heck he's the only teacher that actually lets him pass a subject, and probably the closest thing to a father-figure to Naruto. However, being the stubborn, knuckle head he was, he was never really attentive in class, hence affecting his marks. He just couldn't get any of the information into his head, but then again, one can not learn when one does not listen.

Getting off his bed, Naruto went to take a shower, the dream from last night still lingered in his mind. He still couldn't get over the fact that the dream felt too real, yet he was sure it never happened to him before. Shaking his head to rid himself of the thought as a headache was beginning to come, Naruto focused on washing his sweaty body. If he actually focused and not daydream today, he might make it to school before it started.

Naruto turned off the shower and quickly dried himself, and then he went and got dressed into his school uniform. His school uniform was simple enough; it consisted of black trousers, a white T-shirt (A/N: He had a choice between a white T-shirt or a white buttoned up shirt, he chose the T-shirt) and a black coat with buttons that has the school leaf symbol on it to match the trousers, though Naruto prefers to leave his coat unbuttoned.

Grabbing his school bag, Naruto headed out of his apartment and ran to school. That was his morning routine on a school day. He never had the luxury of breakfast on school days because he never woke up early enough to have breakfast. His run to school normally took at least 20 minutes, so if he was fast enough he would make it to school just before the bell rang for the start of the day.

Who is he? He is Uzumaki Naruto, an ordinary 16 year old boy who currently attends Konoha High. He has spiky golden blonde hair, unbelievably blue eyes and tanned skin. He is thin though not very tall and a very significant feature about him is that he has three whisker marks on both sides of his cheeks, which gives him an almost foxy look to his face.

* * *

Naruto burst into his classroom and sighed a relief, class had not started yet.

"YES!!! I MADE IT!!!"

Ignoring all the stares he got, the loud blonde walked up to his desk and sat down.

"Geez Naruto, a good morning would be nice."

Naruto turned and grinned at the person sitting next to him, who is also his best mate and prank partner.

"Hey Kiba! What's up?"

Inuzuka Kiba, he has been Naruto's best friend since the blonde could remember. He had messy brown hair, a red face paint strip on both sides of his face, slightly tanned skin and eyes that resembles to that of a dog.

Kiba grinned back. "Yeah, apparently there's going to be a new student in our class," he pointed to the rest of the class; you could see that most of the girls were giggling, "And from what I've heard, he sounds like a total jerk and snob."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "A he, huh? Sounds like a jackass to me."

"Don't judge people when you haven't even seen them yet."

Both boys turned to look at the person sitting behind Naruto. He has dark brown hair that is tied up in a ponytail, though it makes him look like a pineapple. He is fair skinned and has a lean body. A bored expression was planted on his face.

Naruto grinned at his other best friend, "Hey Shikamaru. So what do you think of this new guy?"

Nara Shikamaru, another close friend of Naruto. He is a genius with an IQ of 200, but he is also a very lazy person who mainly sleeps in class. It is almost a wonder how he is able to sleep for nearly all of class, yet still manage to get full marks on tests.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's too troublesome to think about, so I don't have much of an opinion on him."

"Well, I think he can't be that bad, but we don't know until we see him."

All three turned to the last member of their group, who is sitting next to Shikamaru's desk munching on chips. He is a chubby boy, with light brown hair and fair skin. This boy is another close friend of Naruto, his name is Akimichi Choji.

Kiba smirked. "Geez Choji, eating when schools just about to start, you know Iruka-sensei's gonna have your ass again for this."

Choji stuffed the last of the chips into his mouth and scrunched up the chip bag. "Now he can't." he said with a grin.

It was just when Choji had said that that the bell rang for the start of class. Everyone in the classroom moved to their desks as Iruka walked into the classroom. He looked around the room at all the faces of his students, making sure he had their full attention and then coughed to clear his throat.

"Alright class, as you all should be informed; we have a new addition to the class." Giggles can be heard from most of the females in the room. Iruka had to cough again before he had the whole class in order. "Now I want you all to welcome our new student to the school and… please behave yourselves."

Iruka turned to the door and smiled. "You can come in now!"

The door slowly opened and a boy walked into the room. Yet again, most of the female members of the class giggled or whispered to their friends.

"That's the new guy, isn't he just gorgeous?"

"He's so cool!"

"I wonder if he's taken."

Naruto, inspecting the new student, couldn't help but feel he had seen the guy somewhere before. The boy is tall, lean and pale skinned. He also has black raven hair that was spiked up at the back of his head and black eyes. Overall, he is a pretty handsome guy, but…

_Where have I seen him before?_

"Tch, I knew he would look like a jerk." Kiba commented, leisurely leaning back on his chair. Both Shikamaru and Choji stayed silent.

"This is Uchiha Sasuke; he will be in our class for the rest of the year, so please make him feel at home." Iruka said, and then looked around the room again. "Ok Sasuke, you shall sit in the empty seat next to Naruto, Naruto please raise your hand."

_Shit!_ The blonde cursed, looking at the empty seat next to him before raising his arm.

Seeing Naruto raise his arm, the brunette boy walked up to him. Black eyes met blue eyes for a moment and as soon as it came, it was broken. Sasuke sat in the empty seat next to Naruto and the blonde eyed his every movement.

"Ok class, now let's begin. Continuing on from our last lesson, please turn to page 38 in your text books." Iruka instructed the class.

Moving his blue eyes away from Sasuke, Naruto did as told. He felt a nudge from Kiba and when he looked at his friend, Kiba was giving an I-pity-you look followed by a smirk.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned his attention to Iruka.

"Shakespeare has always been well known for his poetries and playwriting…" blah, blah, blah, blah… Or at least he tried to.

Naruto turned to Kiba and saw that he too wasn't listening, because he had his head turned to the window and was probably thinking about how nice the weather was outside. Choji wasn't very attentive either, as he was staring at the ceiling, probably thinking about the donut he has in his bag that he couldn't eat yet. In fact, if Naruto looked closely, he would have seen the line of drool coming from the side of the chubby boy's mouth. As for Shikamaru, the 200 IQ genius was already soundly asleep, probably in his La La Land dreaming about floating clouds and flying deer.

Naruto stared bored at his teacher as he continued on about the wonders of Shakespeare. Having nothing better to do in mind, the blonde boy allowed his thoughts to wander to his new next-door-neighbor.

Glancing at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, Naruto couldn't help marveling over where he had seen the raven haired boy before.

_What is it about him that seems so familiar? The face? The eyes? Or maybe it's the hair-_

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened as his mind wandered back to the long forgotten dream he had last night. The eerie hospital-like room, the electronic equipment, the beds, the black haired person that was next to him, the mysterious man, the red eyes, the beeping of the heart monitor, it all came back to him like it all happened before his eyes. Could Uchiha Sasuke be the person he saw next to him in the strange room? Did that dream really happen? Or could it be that it was going to happen? Who was the mysterious man? So many questions, so little answers, it was beginning to make Naruto's head hurt. What did the dream mean? Maybe it didn't have a meaning at all. Maybe it was a coincidence that Sasuke has black hair just like the person in his dream; after all, there were many people out there that had black hair. Being in Japan, black hair was a very common trait. So why is there a feeling in his stomach that's screaming "It's him, it's him!"?

"Hey, Naruto, what's wrong?"

Naruto's head felt like it was swirling and everything in the classroom seem to turn up-side-down. He could hear voices in the background, but everything was still swirling, so he couldn't register who the voices were from.

"Hey! Hey! Are you okay?"

"Naruto? NARUTO!!!"

"What's going on?"

"Someone needs to get him to the nurse!"

And then, just like before, everything went black.

* * *

Naruto woke up to find himself in the sick bay, and according to what he saw, he assumes that he just got here.

Iruka was franticly talking to the school nurse about how the blonde just fainted during class and was asking if Naruto was well or not. Naruto chuckled at the extremely worried look on Iruka's face. His teacher and father-like figure was always concerned about his well being as Naruto was practically like a son to him, hence the teacher can be at times very over-protective.

"Hey, are you okay, Naruto?"

Naruto turned to see Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji and even Sasuke looking at him with concern (well, maybe not Sasuke). They must have come along with Iruka to see if he was alright.

The blonde boy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine now. What happened?"

"Well, you fainted in class." Kiba explained, "I saw you holding your head like you were in pain and you were shaking as well, so I asked you what was wrong, but then you fell off your chair and literally landed on the Uchiha boy." Kiba pointed to Sasuke, who swiftly looked away. "Then everyone sort of panicked and you were still shaking and holding on to the Uchiha like you were going to die if you didn't. Iruka-sensei tried to take you to the nurse, but when you didn't let go, he was dragged along with us."

Naruto was blushing by the time Kiba finished. Had he really been holding on to Sasuke like that? _How embarrassing!_ Sasuke seems to be thinking along the same line as well because he too was slightly blushing.

"NARUTO!!!" Naruto almost jumped out of his skin when Iruka screamed his name. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you still feel faint? Maybe you should go home. Are you sick? Naruto, you better not be dying on me!!"

Everyone in the room sweat dropped while Iruka still rambled on and on like an over-protective mother hen.

"I-It's okay, Iruka-sensei. I'm fine, really." Naruto tries to calm down the stressed out teacher.

"FINE? YOU JUST FAINTED!!!" Naruto yelped and hid behind a blanket, he was really, really scared now.

A hand placed on Iruka's shoulder was what made the teacher pause in his ranting.

"Iruka-sensei, please, you're going to scare the students." Shizune, the school nurse said nervously. Looking around, Iruka saw that all the students were either hiding or backing away from him.

Sighing, Iruka calmed down a little, but the anxiety was still clear in his eyes. "Ok, Naruto. As a concerned teacher, I give you my permission to leave school early today. So, please, get some rest."

Naruto gulped, "Are you sure?"

Before Iruka could answer, Shizune took over. "The cause of you fainting was just some emotional stress. If you go home and rest a bit, you should be fine."

Naruto was silence for a moment, but nodded in the end. "Okay, I'll go home."

Iruka sighed in relief. "I'll go get your stuff and bag. I'll come check you after school. Do you want a lift home?"

The blonde shook his head and smiled. "I'll be fine, thanks Iruka-sensei."

* * *

Naruto sighed as he slowly walked home. It felt awkward walking in the streets during school time, since it is during this time that all the students are at school, leaving only the adults and little kids on the streets. Though Naruto is not a very attentive student and the biggest prankster in Konoha High, it doesn't mean the loud blonde had ever tried wagging school before. Now that he gets to go home before anyone else, it felt almost freakishly unnerving.

However, ignoring his surroundings for a moment, Naruto went back to his original thoughts. Now that he thought hard about it, Sasuke could very well be the person in his dream. He had a gut feeling that it was Sasuke, and Naruto being Naruto, had always went with the gut feeling more than the logical part of thinking.

_Okay, now that I'm sure it's Sasuke, what should I do about it? Should I even do anything at all? I mean, just because some new student in class that I never even knew before, had somehow appeared in my dream, that doesn't mean he has anything to do with me, right?_

_Right._

Being so caught up with his thoughts, Naruto never noticed the figure coming up from behind him until the very last second.

Naruto gasped when he felt a hand cover his mouth, preventing him from yelling and was dragged into an abandoned alley way. All the while, Naruto had been struggling against the man. However, his struggles had been proven futile as the man had him in a firm grip. Naruto, panicking, did the first thing that came to mind, he bit the man's hand. The man grunted and pushed him away but deeper into the alley way.

"You little brat!" the man hissed at him.

Feeling fear run through him, Naruto turned and tried to get away from the furious man. However, that too was futile as Naruto hit a dead end. Turning around again, Naruto saw the man advancing towards him and pulled out a knife.

Scared and helpless, Naruto could only back away from the man, his back making contact with the wall.

The man chuckled. "Thought ya could get away didn't cha?" The man stepped closer to the scared boy. "Now be a good lil' boy and hand over all ya money."

Still petrified as ever, Naruto stuttered, "I-I d-don't have a-any money on me right now." It was true, Iruka always told him not to bring money unless he really needed it. He also always said that the streets weren't safe. Naruto was beginning to regret not letting Iruka give him a lift home.

Raging with anger, the man swiftly grabbed the poor boy's uniform and wrenched him closer to him.

"Don't shit with me, brat! I know ya've got money, now hand 'em over before I really get mad!"

Being so close to the man, Naruto detected the smell of alcohol in the man's breath and also noticed the bloodshot in the man's eyes. It was clear that the man was not mentality sane at the moment. All this made Naruto's danger sensor go hay wire, causing the boy to panic and go up in rage.

"Let me go you jerk face!!" Naruto yelled and tried to push the man away. Big mistake.

It only made the mad man's rage increase and became very violent. Moving incredibly fast for a drunk, the man swiftly brought his knife down on the blonde. Naruto tried to move out of the way but was a second too late and got cut on the shoulder. Whining at the pain, Naruto managed to swing a punch at the man's face, however it had little affect on the drunken man and only made him more aggressive. He grabbed Naruto's thin neck and pinned him on the wall behind him, and without warning, the mad man stabbed Naruto in the heart. Naruto gasped at the pain, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His heart stung and was aching. He felt himself being dropped from the man's grip around his neck and landed on his bottom.

Registering what he had done, the now slightly more sober man began to panic and flee from the scene of the crime.

Breathing heavily, Naruto looked up at the sky above. _Is this the end?_ For some reason, even though he was just stabbed in the heart, he didn't see his life pass by his eyes like most people say it does. In fact, he noticed the pain begin to lessen and lessen to nothing. Confused, Naruto looked down at the knife still in his chest and pulled it out.

Naruto's eyes widen at the sight. To his utter surprise and amazement, the stab wound in his chest was rapidly healing itself until it looked like it was never stabbed in the first place. Struck with disbelief, Naruto looked at the cut on his shoulder and saw his tanned skin with not a scratch on it.

"This…this can't be possible." Naruto murmured.

Yet, there he was, after being cut and stabbed, he was still alive and with not a scratch on him to prove the event that just happened moments ago except the blood stains on his school uniform. He felt like he just cheated death.

Slowly getting up, Naruto tried his best to cover up the blood stains before running as fast as he could back to his apartment.

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Important things to note for:**

Naruto's gift: I'm sure you should all know this if you have watched Heroes. But for those who haven't, Naruto has the power of Spontaneous Regeneration, similar to Clare in Heroes.

The Dream: Just to classify things, Sasuke **was** the person that slept in the bed next to Naruto in his dream. As for who the mysterious man with red eyes was…you'll have to read to find out. Hehe!

**Please read and review. Thanks!**


	3. Part 1: Chapter 2

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 2:**** The Problem Starts**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** Language (swearing)

**Note:**_** Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

Two kinds live on this planet;

The Gifted Ones and the Humans.

Those who are Gifted are honorable guardians,

Those who are Humans are humble creatures.

If both kinds collaborate, there will be peace,

If both kinds clash, there will be eternal chaos...

* * *

It was written on a parchment, in ancient Chinese writing. The doctrine is as important as the Bible is to Christians, as this doctrine holds the keys to finding the connection between the Gifted Ones and the Humans. Though both are predominately as human as the other, Gifted Ones are at a superhuman level. The powers of the Gifted Ones can be great, separating them from the humans. Like the parchment said, 'If both kinds clash, there will be eternal chaos' and that is what they must prevent.

A man with long white hair sighed as he looked over the parchment again. It was a very delicate and ancient sheet of skin, that the end of the doctrine a torn side was revealed, indicating that there was another part to the doctrine.

Oh how hard he had tried to find the other part of the doctrine, but to no avail. If only he hadn't been so careless and let **him** take it away. Let **him** strip him of his gift. Without his gift, he is now unable to have the one ability that most crave for, the gift of language. It was like another part of him has been taken from him. It was only luck that after the recent removal of his gift, that he can still remember most of the languages he had learnt when he still had his gift, that including the ancient Chinese that the doctrine was written in.

_**Beep! Beep! Beep!**_

The white haired man pressed the telecom bottom on his phone.

"What is it?"

"Come to my office…now." A voice said from the telecom.

He sighed and carefully put the parchment back in its box and locked it.

His name is Jiraiya, 50 years old and formerly a Gifted One. He has long white hair and is pretty tall and well built for someone of his age. It wasn't long before he entered into an office and saw a very beautiful, highly attractive blonde woman sitting behind a desk.

"Are you still sulking about **that**, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya sighed once again and looked at the woman solemnly.

"What do you want, Tsunade?"

Say Tsunade handed him a report. "This report just came in from Shizune and her team; the Akatsuki are that it again."

Jiraiya frowned and read the report.

"Akatsuki has moved again. Just a week ago in Konoha, they kidnapped seven dormant ones and then later released them. We highly suspect that they had activated their gifts, yet we are unsure of that as of yet. It appears that the dormant ones have no recollection of the event, possibly caused by memory erase. We will be conducting further investigations on the Akatsuki's recent activities."

Placing the report on the desk, Jiraiya looked seriously back at Tsunade. "What could this mean?"

"I would not have a clue," The blonde woman replied, "But this is where I want you to come in. I'm letting Shizune and her team, keep an eye on the Akatsuki for now, and I'll let you investigate about the seven dormant ones. I want you to find out if these seven are dormant anymore and I also need you to find out about their background. Is that clear?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Good. Here are the names of the seven that were kidnapped." Tsunade handed the white haired man a sheet of paper, with a list of seven names on them.

After reading all the names, Jiraiya focused on the first name on the list. The first person he needed to find was…

_Uzumaki Naruto_

* * *

**-- Japan: Konoha --**

It was a nice warm afternoon. The people were all scattering around, going to wherever they needed to go, doing whatever they needed to do. Yep, it was just another normal day in the life of the city, Konoha.

Though it may seem normal to any ordinary people, one certain person didn't relate to them. A girl, at around the age of 16, with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, light blue eyes, pale skinned and a pretty slim figure. This particular girl is wearing a typical sailor school uniform and is walking around in the crowded streets during this warm afternoon.

_Damn! Why is it always so crowded after school? Can't a girl walk without having people cramming up to you? Talk about claustrophobic!_

Her name is Yamanaka Ino, a girl that attends Konoha High and is pretty much at the top of her class.

Sighing, Ino muttered to herself. "Damn that Naruto!"

It was unfair really; the blonde boy got to go home early just because he fainted during class. He was probably faking it too, being the biggest prankster the world has ever known. If any one had to go home early, it was her. She had such a big headache this morning; it could have been her that fainted. Fortunately, she was able to convince the school nurse for some aspirin, so she feels better now.

Walking to the mall, the blonde girl had decided that it would do some good to her mood if she went on a shopping spree. Just her and nobody else.

Ino smiled when she spotted her favourite clothes shop, "Ice Girls". It sells the coolest clothes ever, not to mention the latest brands and fashions that every girl would die for. Smiling, Ino waltzed into the shop and was at the racks in no seconds flat, she absolutely love this place.

_I hope they don't notice._

Ino stopped, who had said that? Looking around, she didn't see anyone that looked like they said anything. Of course, the shop had people in it, and it wasn't the quietest place either, so it could have been anybody. So shrugging, Ino went back to browsing for something nice to try on.

_Ohhhh! Now aren't you lovely?_

Ino snapped her head up and saw a lady with brown curly hair. It didn't look like she said anything, yet Ino could have sworn she heard a voice speaking from her direction, though that one didn't sound like the first voice she heard.

_Argh! I shouldn't be doing this!_

There! That voice! This time turning her head to her right, Ino saw a girl perhaps two years younger than her. The girl had reddish hair tied in pigtails and was looking nervous as ever. Ino was positive that the voice came from her. But what was strange was that she didn't hear the voice, but more the voice was speaking in her mind.

_Why did I agree to this? I'm going to get caught, I just know it!_

Ino blinked, did she see it right? The girl wasn't talking yet she could hear what she thought. Thought? No, that can't be right; she can't read minds, can she?

The red hair girl turned her head and Ino followed. She saw three other girls, around the same age as the red head, outside the shop looking smug. Ino could automatically tell they were the, I'm-too-cool-and-popular-for-you type of girls, especially by the way they dressed.

_But if I don't, Kiko, Kari and Yumi would hate me. Then I can never be cool like them._

By now, Ino has caught up to what was going on. The red hair was forced to steal for mean, stupid and ugly, so that she could be apart of their group. A common thing girls use to get what they want, without being involved when things go wrong. Now Ino never liked those types of people, and the fact that the poor red head let them do this to her made the blonde teen even more enraged.

Completely forgetting that all that talking was a private conversation in the red head's mind, Ino went up to the girl and pulled her into a corner where the three girls couldn't see them.

"Don't do it." Ino said firmly to the red hair girl.

"Huh?" The confused girl replied dumbly, yet Ino noticed a hint of fear in the girl's eyes.

"Just don't do it. It's not worth it, and you'll get caught."

"W…what are you talking about?"

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!"

The younger girl was shaking now. "B-but I…I-"

"There are better people out there than those bitches that you could be friends with. Besides, friends who force you to do things, aren't your friends at all." And with that, Ino walked away from the girl…

Out of the shop…

Out of the mall…

And stopped on the streets.

_Oh my God, did I just say all that?_ Ino's head was spinning. What's more, did she really just read that girl's mind? Now Ino was panicking, there was something **really** wrong with her.

* * *

_It's so hot out today! I wonder if mum has…_

_Damn, I'm late. Midori's going to kill me…_

_Where's my mummy?!_

_Oh! Kai-san looks sooooo HOT!!!_

Ino covered her ears, but it was no use, the voices keep coming as she went through the crowd.

_Aw man, I don't want to do homework…_

_Kenji looked sad today, I wonder why?_

_Mummy? MUMMY!!!!!_

_Chocolate ice-cream? Nah, I'm on a diet…_

Ino started to run. She was trying hard to stop the voices; it was making her head hurt. She needed the voices to go away. Voices that didn't belong to her, it was driving her insane. She needed to get away… Yes, that's it, away from the crowd, away from the people, away from their thoughts.

Soon, Ino was away from the crowd and was running and heading to a familiar house that belongs to a certain Nara person.

Now Ino, being a popular girl at school, was never supposed to be seen or found hanging around the 'losers'. As it happens, Ino's reputation was very important to her, so why would she, of all people, come to the Nara's house-hold?

Running up the steps, Ino rang the door bell. _He better as hell be at home._

_**Ding dong!**_

No answer.

_**Ding dong! Ding dong!**_

Still no answer.

"DAMMIT, SHIKAMARU! OPEN UP!! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!!!"

…**Still** no answer.

_I guess he isn't home._ The girl sighed in disappointment.

Just when Ino was about to give up all hope, the sound of the door unlocking was heard. She could also faintly hear someone mutter 'troublesome' behind the door too.

And hoe and behold, Shikamaru opens the door. "Ino? What are you-"

"Shika-kun!!!"

"Gah!"

_**Thud!**_

Receiving renewed energy, Ino rushed to hug Shikamaru, making both teens to fall from the impact.

The Nara family had always been close to the Yamanaka family, as well as the Akimichi family. So because of that fact, Ino had been childhood friends with Shikamaru and Choji since they were three. Though, after going into high school, the girl started to get distance between them because of her popularity at Konoha High. Soon it became, Ino and her popular group and Shikamaru and Choji's geek and freak group. However, despite that, Ino still thought of the two boys as her real best friends and vise-versa with Shikamaru and Choji.

"Geez, woman. What's with you?" Shikamaru got up after Ino got off him.

The blonde girl sheepishly smiled, before becoming serious. "I've got a problem, Shikamaru. I think I'm going insane."

The 200 IQ genius raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you always?"

_**Whack!**_

"No, you idiot! I'm serious, I'm hearing voices! I think I can hear people's thoughts!" Ino yelled.

Shikamaru rubbed his sore head after Ino whacked him, muttering 'troublesome woman' which earned him a glare from the blonde girl. "Well, first, let's go to my room and you can explain in there."

Ino nodded in agreement and both teens walked to Shikamaru's room. Upon arriving, Ino sat on a chair near Shikamaru's deck.

Shikamaru sat on his bed and faced Ino. "So, start from the very beginning."

And so, Ino proceed to tell the boy about her massive headache in the morning, about the incident with the red hair girl and her new found ability. After she was finished, both teens were silent for a moment, until Shikamaru broke it.

"So you say you can read people's thoughts," Ino nodded, "And you can't control it." Another nod.

Shikamaru sighed. "Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"

_This is so troublesome, and the dog barking next door isn't helping either._

Rolling her eyes, Ino explained what she heard. "You said that this is troublesome and the dog barking next door isn't helping, right?"

Shikamaru nodded, not showing any signs of surprise or shock that Ino had known what he was thinking. Though, that would be something to expect from the genius.

"There's not doubt about it, you can read minds, Ino."

The blonde girl shook her head. "But I don't want to always read people's minds, sure it can be useful, but it can be so annoying! And, why now of all times?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "How would I know?"

"Shikamaru! You're not helping!"

The genius sighed, "So troublesome… This isn't the first time you read someone's mind, you know."

The blonde girl blinked, "What do you mean 'isn't the first time'?"

"You don't remember? It was when we were seven…"

**-- Flashback --**

_Seven year old Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were playing in the sand pit._

_Ino__: I can't believe you're still hungry after that meal we just had, Choji!_

_Choji__: Huh? What? I never said I was hungry._

_Ino__: Yeah you did! You just said, "Man, I'm still hungry."_

_Choji__: I was thinking that… What, did I say it out loud?_

_Shikamaru__: No Choji, you didn't say anything. Ino just read you're mind._

_Choji__: Ino can read minds?_

_Ino__: Of course not, you idiot! You just don't want to admit you're fat!_

_Choji__: I'M NOT FAT!!!_

_Shikamaru__: … So troublesome._

**-- End of Flashback --**

"Wow Shikamaru! I didn't know you could think back so far. I can't remember anything before twelve. Did that really happen?" Ino asked, amazed.

"Would I be telling you that, if it didn't happen?" Shikamaru asked with a bored expression.

Ino stuck out her tongue at the genius, "Whatever, you just have a good memory."

"Hn."

Ino's eye twitched, Shikamaru can be so obnoxious at times. "Alright wise guy, what was I wearing at the graduation last year?" the girl challenged.

"A purple dress with flowers everywhere, you had your hair in a bun and flower clips." Shikamaru replied without skipping a beat.

Ino looked surprised; he actually got that right to the very last detail. "Ok, at your aunt's wedding three years ago, how many bouquets did I make?"

"Six."

"What flowers did I use?"

"Roses, daisies, violets, Sweetclovers and Honeysuckles."

Ino's mouth was gapping by now. _How does he do it? He remembers everything!_

Shikamaru smirked, "Like you said, I just have a good memory."

Ino shook her head. "But that's…that's **abnormal**!"

The genius crossed his arms. "Yeah, it is. And I've been remembering a lot more lately too. I guess I'm like you Ino, except I have an abnormally good memory."

Ino blinked before smiling, and without warning, she pounced on to her best friend for a hug. The impact caused them both to fall, though because Shikamaru was sitting on his bed; it wasn't on the floor this time.

"Gah! Dammit woman, stop doing that!" Shikamaru yelled.

But the blonde girl ignored him, "Thanks Shika-kun!"

It was so smart, it was almost unnoticeable. Shikamaru was always good at making people feel better, it was one of the qualities of her best friend at she liked most about. She was always able to talk to Shikamaru because he was understanding and could find ways to make her feel better.

Trying hard to push away the oncoming blush, Shikamaru coughed. "Well, you're okay now right?"

Lifting up her head, Ino nodded. "Yup! Thanks to you!"

_**Creeeek!**_

Both teens snapped their heads to face the opening door, and there stood Shikamaru's dad, Nara Shikaku.

Shock was written all over his face when he saw the two teens. "Oh, um…sorry." And with that, Shikamaru's dad left the room, though both teens were able to catch his last words before he got out of their hearing range.

"Oh God! Inoichi's gonna kill me…"

It was then that both Ino and Shikamaru understood what he meant. They both turned red when they realized what **position** they were in…on a **bed** no less, and what Shikamaru's dad must have thought when he saw them like that…

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!"

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Important things to note for:**

Jiraiya's gift: I said in the story that Jiraiya's gift was 'language'; well the actual name of the gift is called Omni-linguism. It is a superpower where you can learn any language you come in contact with. I found this on Wikipedia.

Dormant Ones: Something I made up. It is the term used for someone whose powers have not awaken yet, or have not noticed their gift.

Ino's gift: Mind reading or telepathy.

Shikamaru's gift: I wonder if anyone noticed it. Shikamaru's gift is actually Eidetic Memory. I know it may seem dull, but it suits him. It's one of the reasons why he's a genius. ;)

**Please read and review. Thanks!**


	4. Part 1: Chapter 3

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 3:**** A Dog's Day**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** Language (swearing) and this chapter has **NOT** been **BETA**-ed, so lay it easy on me.

**Note: **_**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

**-- Japan: Konoha --**

Inuzuka Kiba is an animal lover. Actually, more so dogs than the others but, hey, if your family owns the vet and animal protection business in Konoha, wouldn't you? It was because he grew up with people constantly bringing in sick or injured animals to his family, that Kiba had learnt to care and adored the creatures to the bottom of his heart. In fact, his older sister, Inuzuka Hana, is the veterinarian of the local family vet.

So when he finds a group of kids throwing rocks at a poor white pup, Kiba blew up in rage.

It was finally the end of school for the day, and Kiba was intending to check up on his best friend after the fainting incident. Shikamaru and Choji couldn't come, so Kiba decided to go in their place. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was quite worried about Naruto. So, like any good friend, Kiba walked to Naruto's apartment.

On his way though, he noticed a group of kids, around 10 years old, surrounding something and was apparently laughing at it. Thinking it was just some kid's game, Kiba ignored it. That was until he overheard something a kid in the group said.

"Hahaha! Stupid dog! You stink! Hahaha!"

When curiosity got the better of him, Kiba when up to the group to see what was going on. To his horror, the kids were throwing rocks and kicking a helpless white puppy dog. That in turn, leads us to now.

"HEY!! LEAVE THE POOR DOG ALONE!!!"

Startled by the outburst the group of kids turns to see a very mad Kiba, who is radiating a killer's aura. Did I mention the Inuzuka family protects animals?

"Leave. The. Dog. Alone." One can almost compare Kiba with the boogie man.

Scared, the kids did the wisest thing they did all day, they ran. Afraid for their lives they scattered everywhere, all the kids made sure they were far, far away from the scary boy.

Once all the kids left, Kiba grunted. _Stupid kids! How dare they violate__Konoha's _**NO ANIMAL ABUSE**_ rule. What the fuck have parents been teaching their kids these days? I should tell mum about this later._

Saving that thought for later, the boy focuses his mind on the beaten pup. The poor thing is whimpering and licking its bruised paw. Feeling a huge amount of sympathy for the puppy, Kiba starts to slowly approach it, letting the dog know that he isn't a threat. However, the dog notices him and starts to back away. It has its ears and tail clench to its body in fear.

At that, Kiba stops. He knew if he went any closer, the dog will feel threatened and he can't have that. So he went to plan B and starts to softly reassure the frightened pup.

"It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you, little one. Don't be afraid."

To his surprise and relief, all fear leaves the once-frightened dog and it starts to limp towards him. Slowly moving his hand towards it, Kiba lets the dog sniff his hand so it can familiarize itself with his scent.

Sensing no danger, the dog allows itself to move closer, giving the boy permission to touch it.

Smiling, Kiba pets the dog. "There, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" _That had been a lot easier than I thought it would be._

"No it wasn't, thanks for getting rid of those kids."

"No prob- wait…What?!" Kiba's whole body practically jumped a meter away from the dog. Is he hallucinating?

Pointing a shaking hand at the dog, Kiba stutters. "D-d-did y-you just t-t-talk?"

The dog tilts its head in a confused manner. "What do you mean 'I just talked'? I always knew how to talk. It's just, you humans don't understand us. But **you** understood me. You would have to be the first human I've met that can understand animal talk."

Kiba is speechless. He **must** be hallucinating, or in some weird dream, because as far as his knowledge went, dogs, or any animal for that matter, do not talk. He knew you could teach a parrot to talk, but dogs? And what's this about him understanding animal talk? That just sounded fuck up in his opinion. Yet…yet, the dog **talked**. He knew he wasn't on any drugs, so it wasn't hallucination. So…this has to be a dream.

The animal lover lifts his hand and pitches himself hard… and it hurt.

_It hurts! Oh fuck, it hurts. That means I'm awake! That means it's not a dream. That means the dog actually talked!!! God, I feel like I'm gonna faint…_

And faint he did.

* * *

Not far from where Kiba lies, a man is walking his dog on this lovely warm afternoon. He is tall, muscular but not too much, lean and has spiky silver hair. What makes the man seem mysterious is that he wears a mask that covers the lower half of his face, only revealing his heterochromatic eyes, one black and the other red. He is wearing a plain white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and simple black trousers.

The man's name is Hatake Kakashi, 29 years old and is a teacher in Literature for Konoha High. He is more often than not; seen reading a certain orange book called 'Icha Icha Paradise' and is a known pervert throughout the whole school.

Now, on this fine lovely afternoon, Kakashi had decided to take a break and walk his pug, Pakkun. It wasn't a common thing, but it was just on this particular afternoon, that the silver-haired man decided to go for a walk with Pakkun and his inseparable porn book. Things were going pretty smoothly so far.

"Bark! Bark!"

Suddenly a white puppy dog, limping his way, starts to bark at him, or so Kakashi thinks. What is really surprising after that is when Pakkun starts to act strange. The pug, after the barking stops, turns to him, grabs the end of his trousers with its teeth and starts to tug at it. He is whining too. Kakashi has never seen his pug do this before, hence not understanding what Pakkun meant when he tugs and whines at him.

"What's the matter, Pakkun?" Kakashi asks his pug, as much as he knew he wouldn't get an answer from it.

Pakkun then stops tugging, turns around and follows the other white dog. Blinking, Kakashi guesses that meant the pug wanted him to follow him or show him something. So, catching up with Pakkun, the silver-haired man follows his dog. He would have had to whether he wanted to or not, his dog wasn't on a leash.

"What is it, Pakkun?"

"Ruff! Ruff! Ruff!" Kakashi sweat dropped. Like he's going to understand that…

Not too long later, Kakashi finally sees what Pakkun wanted him to see; a boy, lying unconscious on the street. He also notice that the white dog from before sat itself beside him, as well as two frogs and a cat.

_Where the hell did they come from?_

Getting closer, the silver-haired man recognized the unconscious boy as Inuzuka Kiba, a student from one of his classes.

"Oh! Now what happened here?" Ask Kakashi, not expecting an answer.

"He fainted."

Kakashi blinked. Did that white dog just talk?

"Did…you just talk?"

The white dog gave him a skeptic look before shaking its head. "Honestly humans, why won't you believe me, when I say it's **you**, not me. Now, there's another human that understands animal talk."

Kakashi kept blinking in surprise. _What the hell?_

"Hey, Kakashi. I didn't know you could speak animal, when'd you learn?" Pakkun asks him.

Say Kakashi can only stare at his pug, dumbfound. Even he's own dog is speaking! "Um…I never… Wait!"

Looking back at Kiba, he sighed, now he remembers. "That's right, he was one of them." Kakashi said to himself.

"What?" Pakkun asked.

Shaking his head, Kakashi bends down and picks the boy up in bridal style. "I'm going to take him back to my apartment. It wouldn't do any good if we just leave him here."

With that, Kakashi carries the unconscious Kiba away.

* * *

"Think he's ok? I mean, he's been out for a while now."

"I don't know."

Kiba is slowly regaining conscious now. He's sight is blurry, but he can make out five figures looking down on him.

"Nii-san (brother), who is he?"

"I don't know Gamatatsu, stop asking questions."

"I'll say, let's pee on him."

"Wha- NO!!!" Kiba immediately swings himself up, before he could be peed on.

"Relax kid, I was kidding." Turning himself to the voice, Kiba sees a brown pug with a blue bandana around its neck. Sitting next to him is the white dog from before and two frogs, one red and the other yellow, and a black cat that he never met before.

_What happened? Oh yeah, that's right. I fainted because the dog was talking to me. It seems he's not the only who can talk._

Looking around at his surroundings, Kiba finds himself on a bed in a bedroom that he has never seen before. The room appears to be averagely decorated. Not too neat, not too dirty either.

"Where am I?" Kiba asked.

"You are in my room." Kakashi answered as he enters the room. Upon seeing his Literature teacher, the boy's eyes went as wide as china plates.

"K-Kakashi-sensei? What- How-?" _Geez, its one surprise after another today, isn't it? I'm sorry Naruto; I probably won't be able to visit you today._

The teacher nodded, "I found you lying on the streets unconscious, so I took you here to my apartment. Besides, I have some things to I need to discuss with you."

"Discuss…with me?" Kiba can feel sweat roll down his face. _Could he mean…_

Before Kakashi could continue, Kiba had already busted into hysteria. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to steal your porn book and switch it for a dictionary last week; it was Naruto's idea anyway. And I'm sorry I put the book in Kurenai-sensei's locker and said it was a present from you. We kind of knew she would beat you for that, but we never thought Asuma-sensei would come after you for 'trying to steal his woman'. Who knew Asuma-sensei had the hots for Kurenai-sensei. That had been a bonus…Ah! I sorry for that too."

Kakashi's visible eye twitched. So that was what happened last week. He nearly had to be put in a body cast because both Kurenai **and** Asuma attacked him out of the blue, while he was searching frantically for his precious book that so **mysteriously **turned into a dictionary.

"Hahahahaha!" Both Kakashi and Kiba saw Pakkun rolling on his back with laughter. "That's-that's great kid. Hahaha! No wonder-no wonder he came home…Hahaha-came home black and blue. Hahahahaha!!"

Now, Kakashi's eye is twitching madly. "Shut up, Pakkun! You shouldn't be laughing; you never got your tummy rub because I was black and blue." But alas, the pug continues to laugh his head off.

"Hey! You can hear them too, Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asks, surprised. He had thought he was the only one who was going crazy, now it appears not.

Trying to calm himself, Kakashi puts on his usual bored expression. "Actually, that was what I wanted to talk to you about, before you **confessed** yourself."

Kiba gives his teacher a sheepish grin. "Sorry 'bout that, Kakashi-sensei."

Sighing, Kakashi sat on his bed. "Actually, the reason you can talk to animals is because it's your gift."

"Gift? Like, something I'm born with?"

"Yes. To be able to possess a gift, one must have the right genes to be able to activate a gift. These genes, of course, are passed down through the generations. We call people who possess these genes, Gifted Ones. Every Gifted One is born with a gift." Kakashi explained.

Kiba looked fascinated. "Wow, so I have these so-called special genes. Wait… if I have these genes then wouldn't my family have it? I've never seen any of my family do something strange."

"Well, you see, it's all about genetics. You either have the genes or you don't, there are no in-betweens with gift genes. However, the chances of a person getting the gift genes are very rare and they're not the dominant type either. You would need both male and female Gifted Ones to be able to get a full house of Gifted Ones. But because there is so little population of them, most of the time you get a Gifted One with a normal human. And the chance of a Gift and a human to reproduce a gifted baby is only 10. You just happen to be one of the lucky ones."

Kiba looks down at his hands. _So that makes me a Gifted One, huh? Wow, don't I feel special?_ Kiba chuckles to himself at the last thought.

"Nii-san, I'm hungry."

"Oh be quiet Gamatatsu, we'll get you something later."

Both teacher and student look to see the two frogs talking. Really, it wasn't everyday you get to find out what frogs talk about.

Seeing them stare at the frogs, the white dog decides it is time it spoke. "Well, I guess I'll introduce you to the gang."

"Gang?" Both men gave each other confused looks before turning back to the dog.

The white dog nods proudly. "Yes. My name is Akamaru. I'm a stray. The frog over there is Gamakichi and his brother next to him is Gamatatsu. They are normally at the park, but today I was attacked, so Kuro went and got them to help me. Oh, Kuro is the cat. He's not a stray like me though. (**A/N**: The red frog is Gamakichi and the yellow frog is Gamatatsu. Akamaru doesn't mention this, because dogs are colour blind.)

Anyways, we, along with Pakkun, are the K.P.S! Konoha Protection Squad! We protect Konoha from anything that might harm it and the humans and animals that live in Konoha! There are normally six of us though. Our last member is Tonton, the pig."

If Kiba thought finding out that he could talk to animals was shocking, then he definitely gets the shock of the day now.

_Wow! Now I know animals aren't dumb, but that's… that's fuckin' CRAZY!!! After day, I can never look at another animal the same way again. I mean, this _**has**_ to be the craziest day of my life!_

Kakashi, on the over hand, isn't so much shocked, but merely surprised. "Well, Pakkun, I've learnt a lot about you today. You surprise me; you're more involved than you look. And here I thought you were just a lazy pug who loves to lie around."

Pakkun snorted. "Well you learn something new everyday, don't you? Anyways, now that we can understand each other, I've got a lot of things to tell you."

"Mm?" Kakashi raises his eyebrow. (**A/N:** The visible one.)

The pug grins. "Yeah, things like; I like to eat steak and not that sad excuse of food, you humans call dog food. I also need to get my paw nails done; do you know how long they are? Also, when you…" and on and on it went. Soon, Kakashi found himself writing everything down in a notebook.

Kakashi sighed. _Damn I've got such a fastidious dog._

Kiba was just laughing at the sight. It is rare to see his normally bored teacher act so frantic. It could have gone under the 'Moment of the Mouth' category. Sadly though, Kiba didn't have a camera to record it.

Pushing that aside though, Kiba put his focus back on to the white dog, Akamaru. It had just occurred to him that the dog was still slightly limp. The dog **had** been hurt from those kids before.

"Hey, Akamaru, does your paw still hurt?" Kiba asks with concern.

Say Akamaru whimpers a bit. "It still hurts, but its ok. I'll be fine."

The boy felt bad, he couldn't just leave the dog like that. "You know, my sister owns a vet, I can get her to fix you up. You should be fine after that."

"That would be nice, thanks."

Kiba then jump off the bed in excitement. "Ok, then it settles I'll take you to my sister."

Catching both Kakashi's and Pakkun's attention, Kiba carefully picks up the white dog.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, thanks for helping me. I'll be going now."

The teacher nods. "Sure, no problem."

As Kiba is about to head out of his teacher's apartment, Kakashi spoke again.

"Oh. Before you go, Kiba I need to tell you one more thing."

"Huh?"

Standing up, Kakashi gives Kiba a very serious look. "Whatever was said in here must never be spoken about to anyone else. So be sure to keep your gift a secret, ok?"

Kiba waves his free hand to reassure the teacher. "Yeah, yeah, don't worry Kakashi-sensei. I won't tell anyone, they won't believe me anyway." And with that, Kiba with Akamaru leaves the apartment.

The teacher stared at the door Kiba left from before staring at the ceiling. _You have no idea._

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Kakashi looks down at Pakkun and sighed. What a dog's day it has been.

* * *

**Important things to note for:**

Kiba's Gift: Understand animal speech. Kind of like Dr. Dolittle (or something).

Akamaru & gang: Yes, in this story, Kiba doesn't own Akamaru. I'm planning on giving the K.P.S a more major role later in the story, so this won't be the last time we see our cute little animal friends.

Kakashi's Gift: I've decided I'll let you readers guess Kakashi's gift. Come on people, guess. It shouldn't be too hard.

**A/N:** This chapter didn't come out as good as I wanted it to but I needed to explain the concept of how the 'Gifts' work, so bear with me. As much as I want to get to the real action soon, I still need to mention about the other characters, so sorry but bear with me for now. #bows in apology#

**Please Read and Review! Thanks!**


	5. Part 1: Chapter 4

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 4:**** The Secret's Out**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** Language (swearing) and **Unbeta-ed! **My beta-readers have ditched me, but I tried my best to fix my grammer!

**Note:** _**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

**-- Japan: Konoha --**

It was a normal day. Naruto had run to school like he always did. He had arrived at school the same time as he always did. But despite all that, today, Naruto didn't act like he always did. He was quiet. Too quiet. It didn't take long for Kiba and Choji to notice that something was wrong with their hyperactive blonde friend.

"Hey Naruto, what's wrong?" Kiba asked with concern. "You're not still faint, are you?"

Naruto sluggishly shook his head. To be honest, the blonde boy was sleep deprived. Yesterday had not been the best day for him, but then again, who would? After all, Naruto got stabbed in the heart and lived to tell the tale. Not that he did. No, when Iruka came to visit him just like he said he would, Naruto had made sure that his blood-stained uniform was permanently out of the teacher's sight. He didn't want his guardian to freak out like he did when Naruto fainted. Having one freaking-out-Iruka session was enough for one day.

"Well I think Naruto, you need some cheering up. Here, have a chip." Choji took a chip from his chip bag and gave it to Naruto.

Smiling slightly, Naruto accepted the chip. It was good to have a friend like Choji. He could always be trusted to cheer you up if you were ever down in the dumps.

"Thanks Choji."

"Hey Choji, where's Shikamaru? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Kiba asked, looking for the boy with pineapple hair.

Choji shrugged. "He's at school right now, but I think he went to talk to Ino."

Kiba frowned. "Really? But Shikamaru hardly ever talks to Ino. Heck, he hardly talks to anyone besides us. Says it's too troublesome."

Choji just shrugged and shook his head in an I-don't-know gesture.

Not too long later, Shikamaru returns to his seat. He was grumbling something, but the three friends could only catch the words 'troublesome women' and 'annoying as hell'.

Kiba grinned, "Yo Shikamaru, what's with you and Ino?"

"Nothing, just troublesome stuff." Shikamaru replied, though his tone told his friends that he didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

Munching on his chip, Naruto noticed Sasuke enter the classroom. Immediately, the blonde boy started to blush, he still remembered what Kiba had said yesterday.

_Then everyone sort of panicked and you were still shaking and holding on to the Uchiha like you were going to die if you didn't._

Naruto knew it was only an accident, but for some reason he couldn't ignore the feeling of butterflies in his stomach whenever he thinks back to that incident.

"Sasuke-kuuunnnn!"

Looking up, the blonde boy saw that the brunette boy was surrounded by nearly the whole female population in the class.

"Can you go on a date with me?"

"I love you, Sasuke-kun!"

"No! I love you more!"

And the flirting and love confessions continued. However, it all fell on deaf ears as Sasuke ignored them all and went to his desk. Unfortunately for him though, most of the girls didn't give up in their attempt to get a date with him and followed him. This didn't go very well with the other males in the class. It frustrated them that the new kid would get all the girls attention and leaving none for them.

Kiba rolled his eyes and whispered to Naruto. "Figures that Mr. Ice Prince would be popular with the girls. It happens all the time with pretty boys like him."

Naruto chuckled; he could sense that Kiba is also jealous of all the attention the brunette is getting. Though, he couldn't help but agree that Sasuke is indeed a **very** hot, pretty boy. _Wait, did I just call him hot? No! Bad Naruto! You're not gay! You're not gay! You're not-_

_**DI**__**NG! DING! DING!**_

The blonde boy's mental thoughts were interrupted when the school bell rang for the start of period one.

A teacher entered the room. "Ok everybody, class is starting, please get to your seats!"

Everyone did as told and moved to their respective seats. Even the newly-formed Sasuke Fanclub had no choice but to leave their oh-so-precious Sasuke-kun alone. At that, Sasuke couldn't help but utter a soft sigh of relief. If anyone knew what it was like to have fangirls, it was Sasuke.

Suddenly, the brunette boy turned to Naruto. "Oi, about yesterday, you ok?"

Naruto had to force himself to not blush. Was Sasuke actually concerned about him? "Yeah, I'm ok. Thanks for being concern." _Hmmm, he's not such a bad guy. I might just learn to like him._

The brunette quickly turned to face the front of the room again. "Who said I was concerned, dobe."

Naruto almost fell over. His eye started to twitch. "What did you just call me?!" _I take that back, he's a total bastard. What's his problem anyway?_

"Hn, I called you a dobe."

"Why you- Teme!!"

"UZUMAKI!! Class is starting! Now unless you like detention, I suggest you pay attention!!!"

* * *

Outside of the school, unknown to anyone, a pair of binoculars was focused on to Naruto from a tree. A figure, looking through the binoculars, was watching everything the blonde boy did and analyzing him, as well as trying to stay hidden in the tree. 

"So that's Uzumaki Naruto." Jiraiya said to himself. He had already done some research on the blonde before hand and had found out that the boy was an orphan and lived alone. He had also found out that the boy goes to Konoha High, and that's why he was here stalking the boy.

Honestly, if it wasn't because of Tsunade, the white-haired man would not have to act like the stalker his is now. No, he would have much rather used this time to spy on pretty girls at a hot spring than spy on Naruto. However, it was his assignment and he knew better than anyone how Tsunade could be like when you don't do what she says.

Looking through the binoculars some more, Jiraiya decided that he would observe the blonde boy closely, and hopefully he would find out what the boy's gift was by the end of the day.

"Oi! Old man! This is private property! Get out of that tree now or I'll call the police!"

Jiraiya snapped his head to see who interrupted his spying, but unfortunately for him, the movement caused him to loose his balance and he fell out of the tree.

"Gahhhhhh!!"

_**Rustle! Thud!**_

Luckily for him, Jiraiya landed into a bush under the tree. Unlucky, he landed face first.

"Just who the hell are you and what are you doing climbing on school property?" an angry cleaner asked the white-haired man.

Grumbling, Jiraiya rolled out of the bush and looked up to see a woman in her 40's in a cleaner's uniform. It was never a good thing for Jiraiya to be caught, especially by angry women in particular. He had to think of a way out of this before people started getting suspicious.

"Geez, lady. You need a face lift bad! You're practically sagging."

As expected, the cleaner didn't take that very well. Her eye started to twitch and suddenly a broom appeared out of nowhere. "How dare you, you old fart!!! I'm gonna- HEY!! COME BACK HERE!!!!"

But Jiraiya didn't heed her, as he was already up and running far away.

* * *

First and second period had come and gone and now it was period three. Choji had already left for his Home Economics class, leaving Shikamaru, Kiba and Naruto with their next class, Physical Education. They quickly went to change in the change rooms into they sports uniform, which consisted of a white t-shirt with the school leaf symbol on it and long baggy black pants, and they went to the school court. (**A/N:** I don't know what Japanese PE uniform look like, so sorry if I got it wrong.) Their PE teacher was already there, waiting as more students came. 

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Sasuke was also in his PE class. It unnerved him that the bastard seem to have the same classes as he does, but he quickly pushed that thought away, willing himself to not think of the brunette boy at all.

_**SCREEECH!!**_

"ALRIGHT MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!!!" the whole class covered their ears as their PE teacher, Maito Gai, screamed into a loud speaker.

Maito Gai is a tall and muscular built guy. He's black hair was cut in a round shape and had very bushy eyebrows, which earned him the name 'Bushy Brow-sensei' from Naruto. He also wore a horribly green leotard with orange leg warmers. He had once suggested that that would make a great sports uniform, however, to save everyone the embarrassment of wearing such **un**-fashionable clothing, the principle decided against it.

"TODAY WE WILL BE PLAYING A VERY YOUTHFUL GAME CALLED, **SOCCER**!!!!!!!" By now, nearly half the class was becoming deaf from all the screaming.

"SHUT UP!!"

"Yeah, we're right next to you, you don't have to scream!"

"Someone! Get that thing away from him!"

"Turn that fucking thing off, Gai-sensei! You're gonna bloody make us all deaf!!" Kiba yelled, he has sensitive ears and they hurt from all the screaming.

"… SORRY!!" Gai-sensei screamed one last time before turning off the speaker.

Coughing a little, the teacher struck the 'good guy' pose at his students, showing his bright white teeth with all its glory. "Now my youthful students, before we start the game, we shall warm up first with fifty laps around the court for the guys and forty for the girls!"

"**Fifty**??!!"

"No way!! **Forty** laps??"

"Are you crazy, Gai-sensei?"

"We'll never make it!" Some of the girls were even crying at the thought of forty laps.

"What do you thing we are? Superhumans?!"

Naruto couldn't help but flinch at that question. However, it didn't go unnoticed by his friends, as well as a certain brunette who has been watching him for a while.

"You ok, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto nodded, but he didn't trust his voice to answer.

Gai chuckled. "Okay, we'll cut the laps down to ten for guys and five for girls then. NOW MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS LET US RUN!!!" and before anyone knew it, their sensei was already off running.

Everyone groaned, but slowly followed after him. At least now they weren't doing fifty or forty laps. The gods must be looking down on them today.

After thirty minutes (**A/N:** Now let's just say they have a big court), the boys finally finished their ten laps and joined the girls, who finished their five laps ten minutes ago, on the ground to rest. However, even that was short lived.

"Okay my youthful bundles of joy! Now it is time to play, SOCCER!!! I'll put you into teams and we shall start the youthful game!"

There was more groaning, but the students did as told and went into the group that Gai placed them in. There were squeals from the girls who got to be in a group with Sasuke, as there were also many that were disappointed that they were not. Soon everyone was placed into three groups which Gai had 'cleverly' dubbed as Youth team 1, Youth team 2 and Youth team 3. The main aim was that team 1 was to play against team 2 and the winner would play against team 3. Shikamaru was put into team 1, Kiba into team 3 and Naruto, to his unfortunate luck, was with Sasuke in team 2.

Naruto sighed. _Why must I be stuck with that ungrateful bastard? It's just not my day today.

* * *

_Jiraiya, yet again, hid in a tree that was not too far away from the school court. He is quite happy with his choice of hiding place, as it gave him the perfect view of the entire court, hence the perfect view to spy on the blonde kid. He had been so relieved when he finally lost the angry cleaner in the school court yard. If it wasn't for the big bushes around the school, the white-haired man was quite sure he would have been caught and kicked out.

Damn the school for having psychotic cleaners, damn the cleaner for having a good eye at catching him and damn Tsunade for giving him the damn assignment in the first place and make him go through all the trouble. Sometimes, he wonders why he had ever taken a fancy in the blonde woman.

Shaking his head, Jiraiya sighed. _The things I do for that lady…_

Quickly resuming back to his spying, Jiraiya pulled out his binoculars and focused it on to his blonde target. Now, it was time to get serious.

* * *

Naruto stood in position. He watched as Sasuke, whom was chosen to be the one to start the game, got ready to face off against the opposition at Gai-sensei's (the referee) call. Naruto himself was one of the defenders, so he stood at the side of the field. Shikamaru, being the lazy and unenthusiastic person he is, chose to be a defender as well. He was planning on staying out of the game as much as possible; sport was never his forte anyway as he claims it 'troublesome'. As for Kiba, since he is placed in team 3, he got to sit out and watch the game. He wasn't too happy though, unlike Shikamaru, Kiba loves sport, but it looks like now he has to wait his turn. 

_**BEEEEEEP!!!!!**_ (whistle blowing)

"ALRIGHT!! THE GAME STARTS NOW!! LET YOUR YOUTHFUL SOULS RUN FREE AND FILLED WITH PASSION!! **BEGIN**!!!!!"

_**BEEEEEEP!!!!!**_

With the whistle as the signal, Sasuke on cue kicked the ball to someone on his team and the game began. It appears that the brunette boy is quite skilled in the game of soccer, as he played extremely well. His legs were long and powerful, which made it easy for him to kick hard and fast, and whenever he had the ball, Sasuke would be in complete control. It was nearly impossible to take the ball off him when he had the ball in his grasp. Naruto, to say the least, was very impressed of the brunette's skill. Soon it wasn't long before Sasuke scored a goal for team 2. When that had happened, there were many squeals and cheers from the girls, be it on the same team, bystanders or oppositions as they **all** were practically swooning over him. Sasuke was definitely becoming quite the ladies-man.

It was round two and it was now the opposition's turn to start with the soccer ball. Needless to say, after the first round, most of the males in team 1 were quite jealous of the brunette. Not only had he got all the girls attention and scored a goal, but they felt like he was making a fool out of them as well. He **is** the newbie after all. Burning with anger and determination (**A/N:** Gai-sensei must be rubbing in on them.), the males gathered together to devise a plan to make sure they score a goal in this round, just to restore some dignity to themselves after that first round. Shikamaru, for obvious reasons, was not one of them.

Soon the teams were ready and on Gai's say, round two of the soccer match began.

_**BEEEEEEP!!!!!**_

The opposition kicked the soccer ball to his team members, who were ready for the ball. However, before they knew it, Sasuke was already at their tails. He was quick, eyes as sharp as an eagle's and just as he almost had the ball; someone blocked his path. Onyx eyes met honey brown eyes. Naruto recognized the person as Shimizu Akira, a pretty good soccer player himself. Akira then took control of the ball, never breaking eye contact with Sasuke. A single message was passed between the two boys. The war is on.

With great agility, Sasuke tried to gain control of the ball by pushing the other boy off balance. It was ineffective however, as Akira kept his balance well, never losing the control he had on the ball. It soon became like a battle. One would take the ball off the other and the other would take it back. It was so intense.

After awhile, Akira broke the pattern and kicked the ball to his team members, who were open. Now a member of team 1 had the ball and was heading for the goal. Naruto, who finally stopped ogling at the Uchiha, decided that he should now take action. It wasn't that Naruto didn't like sports, in fact it was quite the contrary, but after seeing Sasuke's skills, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Seeing the ball come his direction, Naruto got ready to take the ball off the opposition. However, something went wrong for a slit second. A member of team 1 slipped, lost control of his bearings and slammed into his teammates, who all toppled on to the boy with the ball. Naruto, being too close to the boys, was also caught in the collision and was practically crushed by them without warning. Not only that, all of the four boys who fell on him was virtually twice his size.

_**Crack!**_

Naruto felt something in his body crack and he felt very uncomfortable. To be more precise, he dislocated his neck and broke his shoulder. His neck was pushed in an awkward angle, where any normal person would have died instantly, and his shoulder bone was broken and stuck out like a very horrible lump.

_Oh shit! Not now! Crap! I need to fix myself before people see me!!_

The massive weight on him began to lessen and Naruto knew that the people on top of him were getting off. Quickly, Naruto moved his neck back into the right angle and with little difficulty, pushed his broken shoulder back into place. Both would-be fatal wounds were instantly healed, thanks to his gift.

As the last person finally got off him, Naruto saw that Shikamaru, Kiba and even Sasuke were all looking down at him with concern. A small crowd had formed around him too.

"Naruto, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Shikamaru asked before anyone else could.

Faking a smile, Naruto tried to push himself up. "I'm fine, see-ahh!" Naruto looked down and saw that he had badly twisted his right leg as well.

_Ah shit! I didn't notice that!_

"Oh my god! You twisted your leg; we better get you to the nurse quick!" Kiba yelled out frantically.

"Don't worry, Uzumaki!!" Gai-sensei loudly reassured, "As your teacher, I am held full responsibility for your safety and will take you to the youthful sick bay!!"

"No, allow me."

Then the next surprising thing happened. Before anyone could react, Sasuke had scooped up Naruto in bridal-style and was already running to the sick bay.

"Ahhh! Teme! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The blonde boy shouted in protest.

"What does it look like, dobe? I'm taking you to the nurse."

"You don't have to you know, Bushy Brow-sensei was going to take me."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You seriously want that leotard freak of a teacher to carry you to the sick bay?"

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it. He really couldn't argue with that. Just the thought of Gai-sensei holding him sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

_Funny though, why would Sasuke care if I was carried by Bushy Brow-sensei or not?_

Behind them, Shikamaru, Kiba and Gai had all gotten out of the shock that the Uchiha had ran away with the cute blonde boy and followed them to the sick bay. The sight would have been funny, if it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was injured.

"My youthful students; halt the game and wait until I come back!!!" Gai shouted to the rest of the class.

Kiba snorted and whispered to Shikamaru, "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think the Uchiha boy has a thing for Naruto."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and then shook his head. "So troublesome…"

* * *

Finally, the teacher and four boys arrived at the sick bay, with Naruto still in Sasuke's arms. Shizune, the nurse, upon seeing this, immediately rushed up to them. 

"What's the matter? What happened?" Shizune asked worriedly, urging Sasuke to put Naruto on the bed.

Gai explained, "The students were playing soccer and some boys fell on to Naruto, and now he has a twisted leg."

"Oh my! You're not having a good week, are you Naruto? This is the second time you had to come to the sick bay this week."

Naruto grinned nervously, "I'm-I'm sorry."

Shizune shook her head. "Don't be, it's not your fault. Now, let me see your leg."

"I will be checking up on my youthful students." Gai said suddenly, and turned to leave. "Take care of him, Shizune-san."

The school nurse smiled and nodded. "Will do, Gai-sensei." And with that, the PE teacher left the room.

Turning back to her patient, Shizune carefully pushed the right leg of Naruto's sports pants up until it was just under the knee. The leg was obviously badly twisted as it was positioned in a very awkward angle.

"This isn't good. We will need to twist it back into place, but it will hurt, ok Naruto? You probably won't be able to walk properly for awhile."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. He was very nervous, and was panicking. He knew that his leg was not only twisted, but it was broken as well. It was a good thing the Gai-sensei left, but if he told Shikamaru, Kiba, Sasuke and Shizune that he was okay, they will probably think he's crazy. He wasn't sure if he trusted them enough to tell them about **it**. Well, he was sure he could trust Shikamaru and Kiba, but not too sure about Sasuke and Shizune.

_Aww man, why do I have to get myself into these sorts of situa__tions?_

Naruto sighed. "You don't have to bother."

"What!?" everyone shouted.

Naruto pulled his sports pants up above his knee to reveal a broken and bloody bone sticking out of his knee. It was definitely a horrible wound to see.

There were several gasps and looks of horror from his friends.

"Naru…" Shizune started, but stopped when she saw what Naruto did next.

The blonde boy reached out to the broken bone and pushed it back into his leg. The bloody wound healed itself immediately until not a single scratch was left. Then, Naruto snapped his twisted leg back into place and moved his leg around to make sure it worked properly. It did.

There was silence in the room after that. That is until Kiba broke it.

"Fucking hell, Naruto. That's just…"

"Amazing." Shikamaru finished.

Naruto looked up at them in surprise. "You-you don't think I'm a freak?"

"Hell no!" Kiba glomped the blonde boy, "We're just happy you're okay!"

Shikamaru nodded, ruffling the blonde's hair affectionately. "Yeah Naruto, we're your friends. We would never think you're a freak."

Shizune smiled. "I'm so glad your okay, Naruto. That was one shocking wound."

Naruto's smile was genuine. He was relieved to know that his friends cared so much about him. He then turned to the brunette boy, who hadn't said anything yet.

At first, Sasuke's face was neutral, but then he slowly smirked and crossed his arms. "Dobe. And here I wasted my time taking you to the sick bay."

Naruto stuck his tongue out that the boy. "Teme. Like I said before, you didn't have to."

"Hn."

While the boys started a friendly argument, Shizune worked out of the sick bay. She saw Gai leaning on the wall outside the room.

"His gift had helped him, so his all perfectly fine now."

Gai nodded. "So that means they haven't done **that** on him…yet."

Shizune sighed with relief. "Tsunade might want to know about this."

The PE teacher could only nod in agreement.

* * *

Outside, Jiraiya, once again, was hiding in a tree looking through his binoculars at the blonde boy. He had seen everything, and now he knew the boy's gift. It had surprised him that the boy would show his gift so openly to people. But it turned out that the people he showed his gift to were probably his friends. After all, it wasn't normal for gifted ones who just discovered their gifts to show it to just anyone. Normally, they would only use their gift when they were certain nobody was looking. 

"So, Uzumaki Naruto's gift is cell regeneration. A pretty useful gift, if I'd say so myself." Jiraiya muttered to himself, as he wrote his discovery down in a notebook.

Now that he had found out what he had came to find, Jiraiya was about to jump out of the tree when something caught his eye. A figure, a man, standing outside of the school fence, was looking at the window of the sick bay.

Now if anyone saw this, they would have thought that the man was just walking pass the school. But Jiraiya knew better. From passed experiences, he had recognized the man as Uchiha Itachi from the Akatsuki. The man had dressed casually so that he could blend in with the crowd, but his red eyes were a dead give away to the white-haired man.

_Shit! What's he doing here? Is he after Naruto? Or maybe he's after hi__s brother..._

Jiraiya hid deeper in the tree. Whether the Uchiha had discovered him or not, the man showed to sign of it. It had occurred to him that Itachi's brother, Sasuke, was also on the list that Tsunade had given him, meaning the brunette boy must have been kidnapped by the Akatsuki as well. But why would they do that? And why would they send Itachi to watch their victims if they had already released them?

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. _Just what are they planning?_

After a little while, Itachi disappeared into the shadows and went off. Sensing that the older Uchiha was far away, Jiraiya claimed it safe to come out off hiding. Jumping out of the tree, the man ran and jumped over the fence.

He was now heading back towards the headquarters. He needed to tell Tsunade.

**To Be Continued…

* * *

****Important things to note for:**

The Plot: There has been a lot of confusion about this story's plot, so I will now tell you. I am not really going to use the same plot as the show Heroes, though there might be some similarities. There will be no 'Sylar' in this story, though if you want to you can consider the Akatsuki as Sylar. Finally, I have almost basically given everyone in Naruto a gift, only the really minor characters don't get one. Though there are some that I have given more then one gift.

Kakashi's gift: Congratulations to those who guessed Kakashi's gift is to copy other people's powers, because you were right! A cyber cookie for all of you!

* * *

**A/N:** Now all you people, I am going to have an Opinion Poll! It is about what you think Sasuke's gift should be. Though I must warn you, what you think might or might not affect what I originally planned for Sasuke's gift to be, so just give me your opinion on this one. 

**What gift should Sasu****ke have?**

1. Radiation Manipulation: ability to manipulate, generate and be immune to toxic radiation.

2. Fire/Heat Manipulation: ability to manipulate, generate and control fire/heat.

3. Combustion: ability to cause spontaneous combustion on objects or people.

4. Mind Control: ability to control someone's thoughts and actions through the mind.

5. Precognition: ability to see the future.

**There, so please review and give me your opinion peoples!**


	6. Part 1: Chapter 5

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 5****: Of Memories and Paintings**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** This chapter is **UNBETA-ED**, since my original beta is off on vacation. So please ignore any grammar or spelling mistakes.

**Note:**_** Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

_  
It was dark in the Japanese mansion. The Uchiha Mansion._

_I found myself walking through the long and dark corridors of the building. My only source of light was the dim light of the moon through the paper widows. It was quiet all throughout the mansion. That was until I heard the faint sound of someone talking. I didn't know why, but I found myself running towards the sound. I ran through the long corridors, trying to find the source of all the talking; my gasps of breath were loud and clear to my ears._

_It was like a maze, the Uchiha Mansion. Corridors would lead to more corridors and even more corridors. Now that I think about it, when were there so many corridors in the mansion? However, my feet seem to know the way and took me directly to where all the talking was coming from._

_There it was, at the end of the corridor; the two large doors that stood between me and the voices. I ran towards the doors and pushed it open. A bright light came pouring out and I saw faint figures. Suddenly, I started feeling this overwhelming surge throughout my body. I couldn't stop it and it kept growing and growing. Voices where yelling, voices of my mum, my dad and many others._

"_Sasuke! Stop!"_

"_No! No! Stop him! Sasuke!"_

"_Sasuke! SASUKE!!!"_

"_No! Don't do it! Stop! STOP!!"_

"_AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"_

* * *

_  
_**-- Japan: Konoha --**

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

Sasuke bolted up from his bed. He was panting, sweating and his heart was pounding hard at his ribcage.

_It was that dream again. The same dream…_

He closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down, and the memory of the dream started to fade away; eventually leaving nothing but small glimpses and flashes of what he can remember of his dream.

It took awhile for Sasuke to finally calm himself down. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he was finally able to compose his breath and beating heart.

It was around a week ago went the dream started, and since then Sasuke had been revering the same dream every night, only to end up forgetting most of it when he wakes up. He was only able to tell it was the same dream because of the little glimpses he always remember seeing. He always remembered the dark mansion of his dead clan, the long corridors, the light and…voices. That was all he could remember of his dream. He didn't know what provoked the dream, but he **did** know that it had something to do with his parents and clan.

Turning to look at his bedside table, Sasuke saw the only family photo that he was able to find that wasn't burnt completely by the fire. The fire that destroyed his parents, his clan and his life.

Though the edges of the photo was burnt, the brunet (**A/N:** I've realized that I've been calling Sasuke a brunette instead of brunet in my earlier chapters. Hehe) was able to put the photo in a frame to protect it from wearing out. His father, Uchiha Fugaku, was a serious person. In the photo, the man didn't smile, but he looked content in the picture with his family despite his stern appearance. Next to him was Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto. She was a very pretty woman in her thirties, smiling sweetly in the photo. Standing in front of her was a younger Sasuke when he was six, who was also smiling happily. And then there was **him**. Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi, the one Sasuke would call the 'traitor'. It always made Sasuke wonder why he hadn't just ripped the person out of the photo. But then again, it was the only photo he had of his family before the fire, so Sasuke kept his brother in the photo.

**-- Flashback --**

_A young, six year old Sasuke was running in the streets to the Uchiha district. It was dawn, and the sun was about to set. He was home late because he had to stay back from school a bit. Of course, he could have called his parents for a lift home, but they were having an important clan meeting or something, where the whole clan would come together, so they were unable to pick him up. Even Sasuke's oh-so-lovable older brother, Itachi, was at the meeting, leaving poor little Sasuke to walk all the way from school to his home._

_Suddenly, he saw a fire truck speeding past him. It had its siren on loud and red lights were flashing, signaling that it was on its way to a fire or emergency._

_Sasuke stopped running when he saw the truck and noticed that it turned around the corner to the left of the street. That had made the brunet boy pause for a moment._

_Left of the street?_

_That was where Sasuke was heading too. It was the direction to the Uchiha district. Was there a fire there? What had happened? His mum, dad and brother were having a meeting with the clan, right?_

_Mum and Dad!_

_Itachi!_

_Sasuke immediately sprung into action and raced to his home. He was panicking, hoping that it was all a mistake, praying to whoever was up there that his family was alright. He sprinted down the street, turning around the corner and to his utter shock and horror he saw the Uchiha district engulfed in flames._

_There were firemen trying to control the fire, spraying as much water everywhere as possible to diminish the blaze. Other people who lived near the Uchiha district were trying hard not to let the fire spread to their own area and houses. A group of people were standing and watching with worried and horrid expressions. Nobody had expected the Uchiha district to go up in flames._

_Snapping himself out of his shock, Sasuke ran into an alleyway which would lead him to a back entrance to the district. All the while, the brunet boy could only think of his family and if they were okay. He hoped with all hope that his family had been able to escape the flames._

_Upon arriving at the back entrance, Sasuke once again saw more flames burning his home. Finally he couldn't hold it in anymore._

"_Mum! Dad! Itachi!" the boy cried. But nobody answered._

_Frantically, Sasuke searched for a way to find his family. There must be someway to find his family in all the fire, but seeing as this is a district, his family could be anywhere._

_Suddenly, from the corner of his eye he spotted somebody watching the fire. A spark of hope ran through him and the boy hurried to the person. As he came closer, he recognized the person as his older brother._

"_Itachi!" Sasuke stopped behind his brother. He was so glad that his brother wasn't caught in the blaze._

"_Aniki! I'm so happy you're okay. What about mum and dad? Are they safe as well?" the little Sasuke asked the older boy._

"_No, they are still inside." came the reply. Itachi didn't turn around to look at him._

_Sasuke gasped and grabbed his brother's arm. "We've got to save them, Nii-san! They're going to die if we don't!" Tears were spilling down Sasuke's cheeks at the thought of losing his parents._

_Suddenly, Sasuke felt himself being pushed to the ground by his brother. "What are yo-"_

"_Foolish little brother!" Itachi still didn't turn around._

_Sasuke eyes widen, he looked at his brother in confusion. "Itachi?"_

_Sasuke had no time to react when his brother, Itachi, suddenly turned, grabbed him and took off out of the district and into the alleyway Sasuke had just came from. Itachi then pinned his little brother to the alley wall. He had his right hand firmly around Sasuke's neck, though it wasn't tight enough to suffocate the little boy._

"_Itachi! What are you doing?" Sasuke tried to push his brother's hand away from his neck, but couldn't. He looked up and found himself looking into Itachi's red eyes._

_The older boy smirked. "You really are a foolish little brother, Sasuke. I did it; it was me who set the district on fire!"_

_Sasuke's eyes widen in disbelief, tears spilling out once more at the new information. Why would his brother do such a thing? He was always nice to him and their parents, well, perhaps not so much their father, but Sasuke couldn't see any reason why his brother would want to kill off the clan, as well as their parents._

"_W-why? Why'd you do it!" _

"_Because, I wanted to test out my gift."_

"_Your gift?"_

_Itachi brought out his free left hand, facing the palm upwards. "Didn't you know ototo (little brother)? We Uchiha's have been capable of using gifts for many generations." And to prove it, the older boy made a fire ball appear on his left hand. Sasuke noted that the hand didn't burn up either._

"_Do you see ototo? This is what we Uchiha's, we _gifted_ ones can do." Sasuke could only stare at the ball of fire in amazement, until his brother made the flame go out._

_Sasuke glared and started to thrash against his brother's arm. "You bastard! Testing your gift can't be the only reason you burnt up the entire CLAN!!!"_

_Itachi had to tighten his grip on his little brother's neck to stop the trashing. Leaning in, he spoke softly but sternly into Sasuke's ear. "If you want to avenge our clan foolish little brother, find your gift, learn to control it, and then come find me. I'll be waiting."_

_Before Sasuke could do or say anything, he felt pain at the back of his head and then everything when black…_

**-- End of Flashback --**

Sasuke signed. Thinking about **that** day always made him feel depressed, and despite what most people think; he wasn't an emo to the extent that he would cut himself. He had too beautiful a skin for that.

Deciding to finally get out of bed, Sasuke shifted his legs so that his cat, Kuro, would stop sleeping on it and get off. After that, Sasuke brushed his teeth and got ready for school. He left a dish of milk out for Kuro and grabbed his bag to leave. He didn't notice the cat slip out of the house, nor did he care, since Kuro knew when it was suppose to come home anyway.

When Sasuke walked out of his apartment, yes he lived in an apartment, he knew today would be a long day. If he was going to avenge his clan, he had better start working on his gift soon.

* * *

When school had ended for the day, Naruto was slowly walking home. Nothing much has changed since the incident at the sick bay. His friends still treated him the same way and though they never talked about it, there was an unspoken agreement to kept Naruto's powers a secret. Even Sasuke and Shizune seem quiet about it, seeing as there never was an official agreement to keep his powers a secret. 

Despite all this though, Naruto couldn't help but notice a suddenly change in both Kiba and Shikamaru. It was like they both had something to say but couldn't say it. Choji, having not been told about Naruto's ability, have been oblivious to it all. The blonde boy was having a hard time debating over whether or not he should tell the chubby boy about the incident, but he finally decided against it as he felt that the less the people know about his power the better, even if Choji is one of his best friends.

_I'll tell Choji another time. Right now, I think its best not to mention anything about it._

Nodding at that thought, Naruto began to walk more confidently and faster to his apartment…

"Wahhh!!" the blonde almost jumped. A very pale hand had grabbed his ankle.

"Excuse me; but you were going to step on my drawing."

Naruto looked down and saw a boy, around his age or older, smiling back at him. The boy is very pale and has short black hair. Come to think of it, this boy looks very much like Sasuke. He is wearing a gray coat and is kneeing before a drawing on the street footpath, or is it graffiti?

Stepping away as the sickly pale hand released his ankle, Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, I didn't see you."

The pale boy nodded before returning back to the drawing. Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop at the boy. _That sure is one freaky guy. Who grabs people's ankle out of nowhere like that these days?_

Looking down, the blonde boy got a better look at the picture the pale boy was drawing. The picture consists of what looks like an ancient-looking god, though with the way it was drawn, Naruto thought that it looked more like the devil. The evil-looking god was drawn with only its head and two hands. The head of the god was the weirdest thing as it has nine eyes, four on each side of the face and one in the middle. Its mouth was opened too, abnormally wide and had no lips but only just the teeth showing. Also, its hands, unlike most gods who were drawn with their palms together, had its palms spread apart with all ten of its fingers pointing upwards. (**A/N:** Basically, it's just a drawing of the statue that Pein, the Akatsuki leader, summons when they catch a jinchuriki to take the bijuu out.)

Overall it was a pretty freaky and magnificent picture. It held a sense of evilness in it that Naruto couldn't explain, and magnificence in the way it was drawn, showing power and beauty in a very eerie sort of way.

"Whoa! That's a pretty awesome picture you drew." Naruto commented. He was given no reply.

Looking down at the bottom, left hand corner, the blonde saw a name and the date written in white.

**Sai, 19.04.2007**

_Sai?_

"So, your name is Sai, right?" asked Naruto.

Sai nodded. "That's what everyone calls me."

Naruto blinked, he should be heading home right now, but something about this mysterious pale boy, Sai, that made him want to know him more.

"Ahh, so do you normally like drawing on footpaths where people can accidentally step on it?"

The pale boy chuckled. "No, it's only every once in awhile that I'll allow myself to do something like this." Adding some finishing touches to the drawing, Sai finally began to pack up his art supplies to leave.

"Allow yourself?"

Standing up to his full height, which Naruto gruffly noticed was taller than him, the sickly pale boy turned and gave Naruto a smile. "You seem to like my art quite a bit; if you want I can show you to my art studio. People sometimes go there to buy my art works."

Naruto blinked, dumbfounded. "Err…um, sure, okay." Smiling brightly, Naruto began to follow Sai to his art studio.

Behind them, both boys took no notice of the man who stopped to look at the picture on the floor. The man has long blonde hair which is tied up in a ponytail and is wearing a black overcoat.

The man smirked when he saw the drawing on the footpath.

He turned to look at the retreating back of the boys who were here just a moment ago, his long blonde hair swaying with the light afternoon breeze.

"Things are becoming quite interesting, un."

* * *

Once Naruto and Sai finally arrived at Sai's art studio, the blonde boy could say that he was quite amazed. The place was quite clean for an art studio, but what was more amazing was all the art in the art studio. There were so many, Naruto could hardly count, but the blonde wasn't interested in the amount, he was busy staring at all the paintings and drawings. 

There were a lot of abstract artworks that dated back quite awhile ago, since Sai puts the date on all his work, though Naruto quickly lost interests of them. Then some of the more recent ones become more realistic, and to Naruto, more easy to understand.

"Man, I'm not really one for art, but these are awesome!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sai, who was putting away his art supplies, chucked at the blonde's enthusiasm.

Looking around some more, Naruto stumbled across an artwork that greatly interested him. The picture was painted on a pretty big canvas. It wasn't abstract or realistic, but more of those drawings you see in ancient history books. Several animals were drawn in a circle – nine, if Naruto counted correct, there were nine animals and each animal had tails that corresponds to their number in the circle. There was a one-tailed raccoon, two-tailed cat, three-tailed shark, four-tailed bird, five-tailed dog, six-tailed weasel, seven-tailed badger, eight-headed snake and finally a nine-tailed fox. There were also the five elements; fire, wind, water, earth and lightning in Chinese writing written in yet another circle inside the circle of animals.

Sai, noticing Naruto eye the painting, went up next to him. "I painted that one yesterday; I've been painting lot of these lately."

Naruto nodded, not taking his eye off the picture. "Its quite…fascinating. You must sell a lot for these paintings."

Sai shrugged and began to walk off to find some paper to draw on, he was feeling up again.

Deciding to finally stop staring at the remarkable picture, Naruto went to see more. However, before he did he noticed that there was another canvas stacked behind it. So being the curious little fox he was, Naruto moved the picture he was looking at before to see the picture behind it.

Naruto's eyes widen in shock. "This is…"

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**  
Important things to note for:**

Uchiha Clan: Now I know in the anime the Uchiha Clan is known for controlling fire and having fire as an element, but in my story the Uchiha Clan is just a clan of gifted ones with a variety of 'gifts'.

Itachi's Gift: Yes peoples, I gave Itachi fire/heat manipulation. Sorry to those who wanted Sasuke to have it (which was quite a lot, might I add).

* * *

**  
A/N:** A cliffhanger!! Sorry this chapter's short and took so long to update. #Dodge flying object# I know, I know, I didn't reveal to you readers Sasuke's gift, but don't worry it'll come…just not now. Muhahahahahaha!!! Yes, I'm mean. 

**Anyways, read and review peoples! They are always appreciated. **


	7. Part 1: Chapter 6

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 6****:**** Future and Past Holds No Promises**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** Tragic **death** ahead, in other words someone dies in this chapter.

**Note:** _**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

**-- Last Chapter --**

Naruto nodded, not taking his eye off the picture. "It's quite…fascinating. You must sell a lot for these paintings."

Sai shrugged and began to walk off to find some paper to draw on, he was feeling up again.

Deciding to finally stop staring at the remarkable picture, Naruto went to see more. However, before he did he noticed that there was another canvas stacked behind it. So, being the curious little fox he was, Naruto moved the picture he was looking at before to see the picture behind it.

Naruto's eyes widen in shock. "This is…"

* * *

**  
-- Japan: Konoha --**

Naruto couldn't believe what he saw. The picture before him simply horrified him to no end. Questions began to swarm into his head quicker than he could comprehend them.

_How could this be? Why does Sai have this? Did Sai really paint this? How _could_ Sai have painted this? What is going on?_

"This is… me."

The painting in front of Naruto was the very blonde boy himself. Actually to be more precise, it was the blonde boy when he had been stabbed in the ally. (**A/N**: Referring to chapter 1.) It was a picture of him dying.

The Naruto in the painting had his head down and the bloody stab wound was clearly in view in his chest. Now since the blonde boy's head was down, all you could see was blonde hair, so it could have been anyone. But Naruto knew it was him. The uniform was no doubt the Konoha High boy's uniform and there weren't many people in Japan that had bright blonde hair like him either, so he was positive it was him.

Naruto checked the date the painting was painted, and to his surprise and shock, the painting was painted a little over a week ago. Naruto was stabbed just two days ago.

Turning around, Naruto was about to ask Sai about the painting, but he stopped himself. Sai was drawing again. He had a piece of paper and a pencil out and was just sketching, but that wasn't what made Naruto stop.

"Sai?" Naruto slowly and cautiously walked up to the pale boy.

When Sai didn't reply, Naruto got a little worried; something was definitely not right about Sai. The boy's black eyes were distant, as if he wasn't even looking at the picture he was drawing and the pale boy's hand kept sketching like it had a mind of its own.

"Sai?" Naruto asked again, his voice concerned. He waved a hand in front of the boy to try and get his attention, but Sai either ignored it or didn't seem to notice it. Now Naruto was really worried.

"Sai? Sai! Answer me dammit!!" Naruto yelled. He found himself shaking the pale boy, and fortunately that seem to have finally got to the boy.

Sai blinked, his eyes more focused though he looked around confused. His hand had stopped drawing too. Now the blonde boy was curious, what had made Sai act like that?

"Sai are you okay? You seem to have…drifted away just then."

The pale boy nodded, "I'm fine." He looked down at the sketch he was just drawing a moment ago.

"Another one…"

Naruto blinked at him. "Another one? What do you mean?"

Sai shook his head. "It's…hard to explain. You see, I…see things and then I would paint or draw them out."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "You see things? Like how you saw me dying a week ago before it happened?"

Sai looked up at the blonde with slight alarm. "I did?"

Naruto showed Sai the painting he found of him dying. Sai could only look at it with mild surprise. "That's you?"

The blonde nodded. "It was also painted about a week ago, right? But I got stabbed two days ago."

The older boy tilted his head in confusion. "But if that's true, how are you still here?"

That had Naruto stunned. He just realized the flaw he had made.

_That's right, I'm still here. I was stabbed, but I'm still here. I should be dead right now, why aren't I dead? Oh right, it's because I have this weird ass power that heals me before I can die. Dammit, Naruto you idiot!!_

"I…well, I…" Naruto couldn't get the words out properly. He didn't know how to say it without making himself sound like a freak.

Sai smiled. "Did I stump you?"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked in confusion.

Sai's smile only widened. "I knew all along that it was you, and I also know why you're not dead from the stab wound. You are Naruto Uzumaki, the one who could cell regenerate himself."

Naruto stepped back in shock. "H-How did you know?"

The pale boy took out a sketch book and flipped through the pages. "You see, I have the power to see the future, so I know what is coming. I always draw out what I see, and I saw us meeting each other." Finally finding the page he wanted, Sai showed the sketch to Naruto.

Looking at it, the blonde boy was surprised to see that it was a picture of him and Sai meeting on the streets, where the older boy had been drawing on the footpath. (**A/N:** Referring to chapter 5.)

"So…you knew all of this would happen?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sai nodded. "I'm sorry. It must look like I had planned this meeting, and I probably did, since I knew it was coming."

Looking back at the sketch, Naruto's mouth was opening and closing, but no sound come out. He was utterly shocked. But after a while, he slowly began to smile. "Actually, I'm glad we had this meeting."

"Hm?"

Naruto gave off a genuine smile. "What I mean to say is; I'm glad I got to meet you Sai. At least now I know that I'm not the only weird person around."

Sai smiled.

Suddenly, Naruto perked up with an idea. "I know! Let's be friends!"

The older boy blinked. "Friends?"

"Yeah! You and I can be friends. We could be the Two Weirdoes!"

Sai sweat dropped. _Weirdoes?_ But nevertheless, Sai shook hands with Naruto. "Friends, I like the sound of that."

"Yay! I got a new friend!!"

On a table near the two new friends laid Sai's latest sketch. The sketch was a picture of a teenager, around 17, standing before two gravestones.

* * *

**  
-- America: San Francisco -- **(Yes peoples, no longer in Japan anymore.)

It was pass dawn and somewhere in a cemetery, a boy stands before two gravestones. The boy would be aged around 17. He has long brown hair that went down to his waist and was tied up at the tip. He has pale skin and white coloured eyes. He dressed casually, with a white buttoned up shirt and a pair of jeans. In his hand, he held a small bouquet of white lilies.

This boy went by the name of Neji Hyuuga. He is the son of Hiashi Hyuuga, who is a very rich and successful businessman in San Francisco, and the owner of the famous international company, the Hyuuga Corporation.

Letting the light wind brush through his long hair, Neji stared distantly at the two gravestones in front of him. Both of the gravestones belonged to two very important people to him. On one of the two gravestones, words were written:

**Rikuko Hyuuga****  
Born: 04/10/1967 Died: 25/03/2004****  
Wife of Hiashi Hyuuga, mother of Neji Hyuuga and Hinata Hyuuga.  
Death by Tuberculosis.**

Rikuko Hyuuga was Neji's mother, and although she had been a sickly woman throughout her life, she had been a good mother to both him and his little sister, Hinata. To Neji, his mother will always hold a very special place in his heart.

However, today the brunet was not here to see his mother, but to pay respects to the person of the other gravestone. The gravestone next his mother's was also another very important person to him; maybe even more important than his mother. On the gravestone, such words were written:

**Hinata Hyuuga****  
Born: 27/12/1991 Died: 14/05/2005****  
Daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga and Rikuko Hyuuga, Sister of Neji Hyuuga.  
Death by Car Accident.**

It had happened two years ago, yet Neji couldn't get the accident out of his mind. He blames himself for his little sister's death, and although he had been told any times that it wasn't his fault, Neji could not stop feeling guilty about it.

How could he not? He was **there**. He could have done **something**. But curse his bad timing; he had been too late to save Hinata from the speeding truck. If only he had been even a few minutes earlier, he could have prevented the accident from happening and saved his sister. Yet fate had been most cruel to him. Fate. Neji was a firm believer of fate, yet it was also the one word he hated the most. If it was fate that lead to Hinata's death, then he would curse fate till eternity.

**-- Flashback --**

_It was the end of school, and a 15 year old Neji was packing up his bag, ready to leave for home. It had been a tiring day, so Neji wanted nothing more than to go home and enjoy a nice warm bath._

_Suddenly Neji's cell phone started to vibrate in his pocket. Taking it out, Neji saw that he had received a message from Hinata. Opening it, Neji read the message:_

_Neji-niisan,__  
Shino-kun and I are going to the library to study.__  
Please meet me at the front of DB at 5:30 pm.  
Love Hinata._

_DB was the abbreviation of 'Dad's Building', which was also short for the Hyuuga Corporation Headquarters. It was something that only Neji and Hinata knew about; since it was something they both made up themselves._

_Neji sighed as he placed his cell back into his pocket. Why Hinata had chose to meet there was a mystery to him. He checked his wrist watch for the time. It read 3:30 pm. Exacting 2 hours before he had to meet Hinata. This also meant 2 hours to kill._

_Picking up his bag, Neji walked out of the classroom._

"_Oh! Neji! There you are." A voice called out._

_The brunet turned to the direction of the voice. He saw a girl around his age, with brown hair tied up into two buns, running up to him. It was his friend, Tenten._

"_What is it Tenten?"_

_Stopping in front of him, Tenten was panting slightly from the run. "Neji, apparently there's a last-minute-notice Student Council meeting. You gotta be there."_

_Nodding, Neji followed Tenten to the meeting room. Since he was Student Council President, he was required to attend to every meeting that was held. _This shouldn't take too long_._

_But apparently it did take long. By the time Neji had finally came out of the meeting room it was already 5:15 pm. He had only 15 minutes before he had to meet Hinata at the front of their father's building._

_But that was okay, thought Neji. After all, their father's building wasn't too far away, only a 10 minute walk, and Neji being Neji, always liked to be on time, no matter what it was for. So with that, Neji left the school gates and made his way to the Hyuuga Corporation Headquarters._

_After 5 minutes of walking, Neji suddenly noticed a little girl, no older then 10, sitting and playing in a tree. But what caught Neji's attention, was that the branch the little girl was sitting on was very unstable. It looked like it was going to snap off and break. A frightened scream from the little girl confirmed Neji's suspicions, and before the brunet knew it, he was running towards the tree._

_**Snap!**_

_The ear-pitching scream of the little girl was almost deafening, as she, along with the branch feel to the ground. It was at the same moment the branch snapped, that the 10 year-old girl had slipped off the branch and was the first to hit the ground. Now the ground had been softened up by the grass that grew on it, so the fall didn't cause the girl much harm. However, the branch that fell with her would have, had Neji not caught the branch in time, crushed her._

"_Moegi? Moegi! Oh my God, Moegi! You're safe!"_

_Dropping the branch, Neji looked up to see a woman running up to the little girl he just saved, and hugged her. The brunet assumed that the woman was the girl's mother, as both were hugging each other tightly. The little girl, Moegi, was probably very shocked from the incident and was crying in her mother's arms. But as it was, Neji was just happy that no-one was hurt._

_Moegi's mum looked up at him with a relief smile. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, for saving Moegi's life! I am forever grateful to you."_

_Neji smiled. "It's ok. As long as she's safe, that's all the matters."_

"_Oh please. Can I at least know your name?"_

"_Neji Hyuuga."_

"_Thank you very much, Neji, for saving my daughter." The woman thanked once more, bowing her head in gratitude._

_The little girl, Moegi, stopped crying and looked up at Neji. "Thank you Neji-niisan, for saving me." She then processes to give him a big smile that even Neji couldn't help but smile back._

"_Be careful next time, kid."_

_The little girl nodded._

_Looking at his watch, Neji saw that it was already 5:27 pm on his watch. _Damn, I'm going to be late. I hate being late!

_Turning around and picking up his bag, Neji waved goodbye to Moegi and her mother before hurrying to his destination; the Hyuuga Corporation Headquarters. Not too long later, Neji's cell rang in his pocket._

"_Hello?" Neji answered._

"_Neji-niisan! Where are you?" It was Hinata._

"_I'm on my way. Are you already there?"_

"_Almost."_

_Neji ran through some brushes as a short cut and stopped. There she was. Hinata was standing just two crossings away from him._

"_I can see you." Neji said into his cell._

_Hinata looked around and spotted him. Seeing that they were quite close, Hinata began to cross the road._

_Neji smiled, but suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a speeding truck going out of control and heading straight for Hinata._

_He gasped. "Hinata! Watch out!!"_

_Hinata, having not noticed the truck until now, turned to see the truck racing uncontrollably towards her._

_**SCREECH!!**_

_Everything from there came in slow motion._

_Neji had ran, attempting to save his sister, but was too late and too far away to stop it. The truck collided into Hinata; it had been too late for her to move out of its way. He stopped running when the truck stopped as well. Hinata laid there in her own pool of blood. _

_Neji's heart felt like it had stopped, and Neji himself felt like he couldn't breathe. His eyes were wide with disbelief. The cell phone in his hand fell out of his grasp, smashing into pieces when it hit the ground beneath. People all round him ran to see what had happened, but Neji paid them no attention; all he could do was stare at the lifeless body of his dear little sister._

"_No. Hinata. HINATA!!"_

**-- End of Flashback --**

Neji snorted at the irony. Fate sure has a way of twisting things around. He had been able to save Moegi from harm, yet he couldn't save his own little sister from death. It made life feel so unfair. But, as Neji found out, life was never fair.

After the incident, Neji became very withdrawn, locking himself in his own room for a week, until school called in and asked him to come back to school. His best friends, Tenten and Lee, were very sympathetic when he did finally go back to school. Both trying to give him space, yet still being there for him. Had Neji not been so much in his own world, he would have been quite touched. Not that he would admit it out loud.

The tragedy had also affected his father as well. The death of his wife, Rikuko, had been hard enough on him as it was. So, when Hiashi found out about the death of his daughter as well, the man had just snapped. It was too much for him to bear. He had gone into depression for a month, and after that month, Hiashi focused back on to his career. Things were forever then awkward between Neji and his father. They had barely spoken to each other after the incident, only ever talking when they needed to ask something, and even then, it was only with very few words for answers. Neji could barely even remember the last time they both had a decent conversation together.

Neji carefully placed the small bouquet of white lilies by the gravestone. Lilies were always Hinata's favourite flowers.

Finally, after a big sigh, Neji makes his way out of the cemetery. Even now, Neji still blames himself for Hinata's death. He knew it was not really his fault, as Tenten constantly reminds him, but as Neji walks out of the cemetery, only one thing was on his mind.

_If only I could turn back time._

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Important things to note for:**

Hyuuga Family: Ok, now I know in the anime Neji is Hinata's cousin, but in this story, I've decided to make them brothers and sisters. Also, I hope I have portrayed Neji right in this story, and if I'm off then it would be because Neji isn't a branch member with a grudge in here. I don't know the name of Hinata's or Neji's mother, so I just made up one. Finally, there's no Hinabi in this story.

Sai's Gift: Sai can see the future, making his gift precognition.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry this chapter took so long; I had been a little stuck on it so yeah… Anyways, I think from now on, random characters will appear and many gifts will be revealed. Speaking of gifts being revealed, Sasuke's gift still hasn't being revealed yet. Well, since Sai has Precognition and Itachi has Heat/Fire Manipulation, you can sort cross out and figure it out from there. Hehehe! Also, sorry to the Hinata fans out there. I have nothing against her, and in fact I like her a lot (she's nice to Naruto!), but I needed her to die for a reason. You'll find out soon enough.

"**If only I could turn back time**" sang by Diane Warren. Great song; goes well with this chapter.

**Thank you to all those who bother to review my story! Hugs and kisses to you all! Now please read and review this chapter as well!**


	8. Part 1: Chapter 7

**The Gifted Ones**

**Part 1 – chapter 7****:**** Police Troubles**

**Declaimer:** I don't own Naruto or the powers from Heroes or any superpowers.

**WARNING:** Graphic description of a dead body, don't like, just skip the part.

**Note:** _**Bold Italic**_ for sound effects. _Italic_ for thoughts.

* * *

It was at the time of midnight, and the clouds were hiding the moon, the only source of light for the small dark room which was to be the meeting place. It was perhaps the convenient darkness of the area that made the meeting place a successful location to have, away from prying eyes and any possible spies.

In the room, nine figures stood in the blackness, all waiting for the tenth member of the group to arrive and then to commence to the meeting.

Suddenly, the door of the meeting room opened and another figure stepped into the darkness. It was almost impossible the see any features of the figure but none of the other members cared, as they all already knew who the new addition was.

"You're late, Deidara." said one of the figures.

"Sorry Leader-sama, I got caught up with something, un." Deidara replied sheepishly.

The one called Leader closed his eyes, dismissing the other's excuse. "Alright, the meeting commences now. Deidara, what do you have to report?"

The late comer grinned, not that anyone could see it. "Yeah, the kids we kidnapped are starting to react, un. I'm not sure how strong their gifts are yet though, un."

"Itachi, report."

Itachi opened his eyes at the leader's call. His red eyes seem to glow in the dark room. "About the same as Deidara, Leader-sama. However, Uchiha Sasuke seems to not be reacting as of yet." The older Uchiha brother didn't even pause when mentioning his younger brother's name.

At that, the leader nodded, but let loose a small smirk that went unnoticed by the others members of the dark room.

"The preparations are nearly ready." The leader said, causing all the members to look at him expectantly. "It will not be long now, once everything is ready…"

The leader opened his eyes. "…this world will be like it once was."

* * *

**-- Japan: Konoha --**

He sighed at the awful sight of the body. There were so many of these lately, yet by God he had not a clue how it happened or who did it. In front of him was the horrible sight of a man, probably in his early thirties, lying on the floor with decaying skin so sickly purple, eyes rolled to the back of the head and mouth hanging wide open with saliva dribbling out. The fingernails were black and the muscles melted, causing the wrinkled skin to sag, the skeletal system of the body practically visible. And yet, despite the hideous state of the body, there were no blood in sight.

With one last sigh, Kabuto took his eyes off the dead body. "Ayame, please get the guys to take the body into the ambulance and stiffed to the examination room for further testing."

The young woman standing next to him did not have to be told twice, as she was already on to it.

"Agent Kabuto! The tests have come in! It's just like the last one; the body is literally filled with toxic fumes. But I have no idea how so much fumes could have gotten inside the body. It's absolutely impossible!" a policewoman reported to the Agent.

Kabuto rubbed his forehead. "But it happened, whether it was impossible or not."

The policewoman bit her lip and let out a soft sigh, she knew as well as he did that the truth was inevitable.

"Have you searched the whole house for evidence?"

"We are on it Agent!" the woman replied professionally and left the agent to get right on to her duties.

He's name is Yakushi Kabuto. He is an intelligent super agent and is one of the best from the National Police Agency (NCA). He is half Japanese and half British, with long silver hair tied in a low ponytail, tall and quite pale skinned. Right now he was trying to solve one of those many mysteries where the killer leaves not a single clue or evidence behind. While the silver-haired agent loves a mystery, this was one had been going on for months, and was starting to get on his nerves.

Not only does the killer not leave any clues, he is also one that seems to always think one step ahead and could escape from the police quite easily. Already, this was the 25th victim that was reported with a body full of toxic fumes, apparently the killer knows a lot about poisons. The fact that there are never any witnesses to identify the killer, means that the criminal is very careful in hiding any tracks that would lead to him; if it was in fact a him. There is also the question about any connections or patterns from the past victims. It was almost infuriating, the murderer was leading them into a wild goose chase, but Kabuto would not left the murderer get to him. He was going to stay calm and think over everything one by one and finally solve this mystery.

"Agent Kabuto! Please come and look at this!" a forensic called out to him.

Kabuto looked up before walking to the person.

* * *

It was the afternoon and the end of school. It had almost become a routine for them that both Shikamaru and Ino would walk home together, since they discovered Ino's mind reading ability. The lazy genius didn't even know how it came to this, but he was too lazy to complain about it. He supposed Ino needed moral support for her to handle her new-found ability, since it was becoming quite intense lately.

"…and she was like, 'what the hell'. And did you know that Chiko-san is going out with Taro-kun! I can't believe it! But they're totally quiet about it, and…"

Or so **she** says. It had become quite apparent that Ino would tell everything that she heard in people's thoughts to him. At first it was a little interesting to hear about, but that got boring after awhile, and… he **really** doesn't need to know most of this stuff.

Ino paused in her rant to glare at him. "Hey! I'm telling you these things so I don't feel as bad about knowing them."

Shikamaru sighed. _And that's the problem woman! I don't need to hear it. Not even Naruto's this annoying._

Ino pouted. "You know, I can't believe that jerk is one of us. His power makes him practically invincible!" When Shikamaru had discovered what Naruto was capable of, he couldn't take it off his mind for the whole day. It was of no surprise then that Ino would eventually find out about the event from his thoughts.

He sighed in annoyance, not wanting to go into **that** talk again. _Fine, continue your stupid gossip._

Ino grinned happily and went right off from where she stopped. Since Ino could read minds, Shikamaru didn't even need to open his mouth to speak. Ino could just read what he was going to say anyway. He didn't mind that at all though, he was just that lazy. But aside from that factor, Shikamaru had been able to learn to communicate with Ino on a more private level. It was very convenient in a way, though Ino said if he kept it up, he might forget how to talk. Like that was ever going to happen.

When both he and Ino turned to a corner, Shikamaru noticed something strange a few meters up ahead. Five police cars and an ambulance were in front of a house; it's looked like something serious was going on as there were many police officers investigating the area.

"What do you think happened?" Ino ask him, who also noticed the scene.

The lazy genius snorted. "That's a pretty stupid thing to ask, considering that you can read my mind." These were one of the few times he actually felt like saying something.

The blond girl stuck her tongue at him. "Whatever. Let's go see what's happening." And with that, both teenagers walked up to what looks like a crime scene.

The house that was being investigated looked normal enough from the outside. The police investigating were working hard. Some were brushing powdered delicately on walls and windows, searching for prints, some were writing and gathering information, some seemed like they were patrolling the house, probably looking for footprints. Both Shikamaru and Ino even saw police carrying out a stretch with a body covered up with a large cloth.

This was indeed a crime scene investigation they were witnessing.

_Read their minds. Maybe that'll tell us what's going on._ Shikamaru thought.

Ino nodded slightly and scanned her eyes around the area, letting anyone's thoughts to come to her.

_Not a single fingerprint. Dammit!_

_Man, the body looks horrible. How could anyone do such a thing?_

…_filled from head to toe with toxic fumes, how on earth did it get into the body?_

_I hope we will catch this criminal soon. This is a disaster._

Ino turned her head to the boy next to her and whispered. "I'm not too sure, but it looks like someone died from toxic fumes inside the body, and it seems the person who did it got away. Don't know who though."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that. _Hmmm. I think I read an article about someone putting poison into people to murder them. This could be another one of those crimes._

Ino shuttered at the thought, not liking the idea of a serial killer on the loose.

_Help me…_

Ino blinked with alarm as she thought she heard a thought very different to all the thoughts of the police. It was very quiet, but it didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. Determined to find the voice again, Ino listened harder for that one particular voice.

_Someone please… help me…_

There it was again, and this time Ino could hear it a bit more clearly. It was a voice of a small child, frightened. Suddenly filled with the urge to find the poor child, Ino walked closer to the house, only to be stopped by her friend.

"Ino? What it is? Did you hear something?"

The blonde frowned slightly and nodded. "I'm hearing this voice… I think whoever it is needs help."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Inside the house?"

Ino paused for a moment. "I'm not sure."

Rolling his eyes, the genius could only sigh. "I don't think these police will let us through. We could go around the back to go in, but if we're spotted it'll make us look suspicious."

The blonde girl bit her lip, thinking thing over, thinking up ways to get in without being noticed. But it was hard, and Shikamaru was right, everywhere police are roaming around, it's impossible to go in undetected. The voices of people's thoughts in her head weren't making it easier to think either.

Then a thought hit her. Why was she trying to sneak in anyway? It's not like she was going to stealing anything, and like Shikamaru said, it would make them look suspicious, and she didn't want that. She should just go up to them and be direct. Hopefully, Shikamaru would help back her up or something.

Quickly, Ino ran up to a police officer, a woman, about mid-twenties and with purple hair tied up in a messy ponytail. The policewoman was standing beside the ambulance watching the body being lifted into the vehicle.

"Miss, we need to go in! There is someone in there that needs help." Ino said to the woman.

Turning to face the school girl, the woman blinked. _Wha? Is this kid serious?_ The blonde almost rolled her eyes at the woman's thought.

"Sorry kido, can't you see we're investigating a crime here? It's off limits to the public." the purple-haired woman replied, her tone slightly annoyed.

"But there is someone in here that needs help!" Ino replied desperately.

This time the policewoman narrowed her snake-like brown eyes. _Is this brat for real? I don't hear anyone calling for help._

"I don't hear anyone calling for help. Don't think you can trick your way into this, kid. I'm not going to letting you in."

Watching the scene, Shikamaru sighed. _I guess there's no other way now… Ino, make a run for it into the house. I'll hold the woman off for awhile._

Hearing Shikamaru's thoughts, Ino slipped passes the policewoman and charged towards the house.

"Hey hey! Where do you think you're-" the purple-haired woman made to run after the blonde girl but was stopped when she felt someone hug her from behind.

Shikamaru smirked. "Gotta let the girl have her way." He tightened his grip around the woman.

Turning her head to look at the boy, the police smirked back. "Sorry kido. You're not bad-looking, but you're not my type." With that, the woman grabbed his arms from around her and pulled them off. She then processes to twist Shikamaru's arms into an arm-lock, pressing the boy against the wall of the ambulance.

Shikamaru cursed under his breath. He didn't expect that. From behind him, the woman's smirk widened. "I'd love to play with you a bit more, but I've got to catch Miss Blondie." With that, Shikamaru felt himself being pulled off the ambulance and his back hitting a pole. Then cold metal rings encircled his wrists and was locked in that position. The bloody woman handcuffed him to a bloody sign pole!

"Hey wait! You're going to just leave me like this?"

"Adios!" The policewoman gave him a toothy grin before running off into the house, leaving the brunet attached to the pole.

* * *

_Please don't hurt me._

The voice was calling.

_Help me… please!_

It was gradually getting louder.

_I don't wanna die!_

Ino knew she was getting close.

Listening carefully and intently, Ino walked around the inside of the house, trying to find the source of the voice. She knew it was close, but she didn't know **where**.

She ignored all the investigators that saw her. Wandering why a teenage schoolgirl was wondering inside the crime scene and why nobody had tried to stop her. She ignored everything except that young and frightened child's voice that was crying out for help in her mind. She didn't know why she was so concerned, why she cared so much, but something inside her told her that this kid needed help. It was probably the desperate tone of the voice that drew her to finding the child.

_I'm scared…_

Either way, she had to help this child.

A hand grabbed her upper arm, causing Ino to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Oi! Girl! I told you, you can't come in there! We're investigating a crime scene!" the purple-haired policewoman from before yelled, she began to drag Ino out of the house.

The blonde girl cursed; couldn't Shikamaru have held the woman back for a little longer?

_Please don't come into the shed!_

"The shed!" Ino yelled out, causing the policewoman to look at her weirdly.

"Wha?"

The blonde girl ripped her arm away from the surprised woman and made her way out to the backyard.

"What the hell is with this girl?" The woman muttered angrily, she was really getting pissed. If the boss knew she was letting some teenage high-schooler roam the premises, she would probably get a cut from her next paycheck. So with a heavy sigh, the purple-haired woman ran to catch up with the blonde schoolgirl.

Once out of the house, Ino looked around franticly. She saw a pretty well-made garden with many beautiful flowers patches here and there all over the garden. But she wasn't here to look at flowers – despite the fact that she was a florist – she was out here to look for a shed!

"Shed, shed, shed! Where's the shed?!" In her panic, Ino finally spotted a small rusty old shed at the far right end of the backyard, almost hidden behind a bush. Running up to it, Ino brushed away the leaves and branches, grabbed the handle of the old sliding door and pushed it open.

_**Bam!**_

Inside, hiding behind a few dusty boxes, Ino saw a young boy around 10, starring back at her with wide fearful eyes. The child wore round glasses that made his red teary eyes more obvious, snot was drilling from his nose. If it was in another situation, Ino would have been disgusted, she hates grubby kids. But the thought never crossed her mind; all she wanted to do was to comfort the petrified child. The boy was sniffing with frightened gasps, too scared to speak, but Ino knew exactly what the child was thinking.

_I'm gonna die!_

"No, no. Nobody's going to hurt you." Ino said, in a soft comforting voice.

_I'm scared!_

"It's ok. Don't be scared. We're here to help you." The blond girl slowly stepped closer to the boy.

But he only backed away like a frightened mouse being cornered. _No! Don't come any closer!_

Ino stopped. Not wanting to scare the boy anymore than he already was.

"It's ok. I won't hurt you. It's ok." The blonde girl kept saying with a reassuring tone, doing all she could to calm the kid down, and it seems to be taking effect. The boy was slowly becoming more and more at ease with Ino.

All the while, the purple-haired policewomen watched the scene with fascination and shock. How had the blonde girl known that there was a kid hiding in the shed? The women had felt it suspicious when she claimed that someone needed help, while nobody else heard anyone call at all. Yet, this girl was able to find the kid without much difficulty, and seem to have heard the kid call as well. Does she have extremely good hearing or something? Who is this girl?

"Anko, what's going on?"

The policewomen looked behind her shoulder at the sound of her name… and almost jumped out of her skin when she saw who had called her. Standing behind her was the very agent in charge of the whole crime investigation. Now she was doomed. _I might as well kiss my next paycheck goodbye…_

"Ah! A-agent Kabuto! I… um… I can explain!"

Kabuto shook his head in annoyance. "Then start explaining." He said as he pointed behind him.

Looking behind the super agent, Anko saw the pineapple-head boy she had handcuffed to a pole and standing with him was another police officer named Asuma.

Anko groaned. _What did I do to deserve this?_

_

* * *

_

It is a very eventful day, Shikamaru thought, as both him and Ino were both let off after some explaining from the purple-haired woman, who they founded out was called Anko, and some persuading from Asuma.

After Anko had left him attached him to the sign pole, Shikamaru, being the genius he was, started picking the lock to the handcuff and was free within about three minutes. He then made his way to the house but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, which turned out to be Asuma's. Shikamaru, to say the least, was shocked to see his laidback math teacher here and investigating a crime scene.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei. Why are you here? I thought you were a teacher, not a police officer." Ino asked as the three of them stood outside the investigation zone.

Sarutobi Asuma is a tall and muscular man in his early thirties. He has short black spiky hair and beard, with brown eyes and tanned skin. He wore the police uniform, indicating that he is an officer, yet Asuma is also a mathematics teacher at Konoha High. The man is nearly always seen with a cigarette in his mouth.

Puffing some smoke from his cancer stick, Asuma grinned. "Well, I'm a part-time officer, and this is just one of the few times I get to work with an investigation team. I'd say I'm pretty lucky, but I never expected to see you two here and causing trouble too."

Shikamaru snorted. "Blame Ino and her 'extremely good hearing'. She's the one who wanted to help."

"Hey! It's because of my 'extremely good hearing' that Udon-chan was found and safe!" Ino retorted angry.

Once things had been cleared and straightened out about Shikamaru's and Ino's intrusion, the little boy hiding in the shed had finally been taken care of and brought to safety. They found out that the boy's name is Udon and that the body founded in the house had been Udon's father. While the police are still trying to gather as much information out of the boy as possible, Udon will be under police care once the boy's mother has been located.

As for the how Ino had been able to find Udon, the blonde girl said that she had heard the boy's cries, due to her 'extremely good hearing'. While Agent Kabuto hadn't been convinced, he accepted it as the only possible explanation and reluctantly thanked Ino for helping with the investigation.

"Now, now. No need to start an argument about it. What's done is done, we can't change the past." Asuma said as he dropped his cigarette and doused it. "Besides, isn't it time you kids run along home. It's not very safe on the streets, especially with a killer on the loose."

Shikamaru rounded his eyes and muttered. "What do you think we are, 8-year-old kids?"

"Wait a minute, Asuma-sensei, who **is** the killer? And why would they do such a thing?" Ino asked as the thought occurred to her. It had been on her mind for a while; though none of the police's thoughts had helped her to uncover that mystery.

"Hmmm, well that's confidential information." The bearded officer/teacher stated. "It's not something you kids should concern yourself with, as long as you stay away from anyone suspicious, you should be ok."

"Why?" The blonde gave a confused looked. _Something's not right… What is it?_

Asuma's gentle brown eyes stared back at her confused light blue eyes. In that's instant, something happened.

_Ssssscreeeeeeech!_

Instantly, Ino clutched her head in pain at the metallic sound that went through her mind. The sound was so high and fussy, like a telephone having connection problems; distorted and agonizingly annoying.

"Hey, Ino. You ok?" Her friend asked, slightly worried.

The blonde shook her head before faking a smile. "I'm fine, Shikamaru. Just tired, that's all."

"Hmmm." Asuma nodded, fishing out another fresh cigarette. "You guys should go then. Get some rest; today had been a pretty big day. Besides, don't you guys have homework to do? I'm pretty sure I set some Math for you to do today."

"Yeah, yeah…" Shikamaru lazily brushed the question away and started walking. "Let's go Ino."

The blonde girl nodded and followed her friend, leaving their Math teacher behind. "Bye Asuma-sensei."

"Be careful you two!" The man called out after them, and then muttered to himself, "You've got bigger things ahead of you in the future."

"Ah… I wonder… it's strange…" Ino wondered to herself when the crime scene had been out of their sight.

_What is it?_ Shikamaru thought, giving the girl a bored but confused look. He had converted back to thought communication.

"Asuma-sensei… he… how should I say? I couldn't read his thoughts."

_Really? Has that happened before?_

"No, never. In fact, now that I think about it. I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts since Asuma-sensei came. Now that we're away, I can hear perfectly again… It's strange." Ino explained. A frown had formed on her pretty face.

_Hmmm…maybe, Asuma-sensei could be special too._ The genius replied in his thought.

The blonde gasped at him. "Really? Like one of us?"

_Maybe, but that's just a suspicion._ Shikamaru shrugged. _If it's a power like us, then it isn't as obvious as like what you and I, or even what Naruto can do._

Ino pouted. "I still can't believe that jerk is one of us. Not only that, his power makes him practically invincible!"

… _That's the 38__th__ time you've said that now. And yes, I've been counting._

_

* * *

_

The sun had just set pass the horizon to twilight, and darkness began to overshadow the sky. Kabuto walked hastily along the corridor of the Konoha Police Headquarters, his shadow skippering along the walls with him. Stopping in front of a door, the agent wasted no time to turn the knob and rudely barged into the room.

"You need me Chief Ibiki?" He politely faced the muscular man seated at the desk, despite his discourteous entrance.

"Agent Kabuto." The Chief's heavy voice created tension in the atmosphere, Kabuto was almost convinced that the entire building froze at his tone. The Chief of Konoha Police Headquarters is one of the most feared people Kabuto has ever encountered. Not only for his threatening and fearsome looks, but because he was once a torture expert in his earlier days in the police force.

"Yes, Sir?"

"I have decided to transfer you into another case. I have already assigned someone else to take your case; you are no longer on the Poison Murder case now." Kabuto couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had worked **months** on that case and now he was being transferred before he could even solve it!

"But Chief Ibiki, this case needs me!" Normally, Kabuto wouldn't have had the guts to oppose the Chief, however in this case, Kabuto knew he couldn't let go of his current case, not yet.

"Your new case may need you even more, Agent Kabuto." The agent stared back in disbelief and the Chief smirked as he explained.

"You have heard of the Uchiha case, I believe?"

Kabuto frowned. "The Uchiha case? The one where the whole Uchiha clan district was burnt in flames ten years ago? I thought that case was over and marked as an accident. Why reopen it? And why would you need me?"

Without warning, the Chief threw a thick file at him which he barely managed to catch. "It had been kept a secret from the media, but when we inspected the area, a dangerous amount of radiation was found. It is unknown where the radiation had come from, we had first thought someone must have left their kitchen stove on. However, a single kitchen stove could not have caused the whole district to catch on fire."

Kabuto's eyes widened, realization donned on him. "You suspect a mass murder?"

"We have suspected that, yes, but there were no clues, aside from the radiation, indicating that it was done on purpose. However, I believe there is something more to all this, this is where you come in Agent Kabuto. Do you accept it?"

Kabuto bit his lip. Does he have a choice? It was obvious from the start.

"I accept."

**To Be Continued…**

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* * *

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**Important things to note for:**

Kabuto & Anko: Though these two may have some important role in this story, I'm not going to give them a gift. Sorry, to those who thought they might have a gift.

Asuma's Gift: Since Asuma's gift isn't very obvious, I'll just tell you guys that he has Power Negation and Power Sensing. So Asuma can cancel any powers that are near him, and he can also sense anyone who has power/s.

* * *

**A/N:** Once again, I'm sorry for the very late update. This year is my last year of high school, so please understand at I am very busy with school work… and life. Anyways, more characters and more gifts! For ShikaIno fans out there, I'm sure you can see that though they are not doing anything intimate yet, they are certainly get close. As for SasuNaru fans, I'm sorry there has hardly been any interaction between then, but there will be more soon. I did early say that there wouldn't be much focus on pairings in this story.

**I'm so glad people are still reading this story! Thanks so much for the reviews! I love you guys! Keep up the Read and Reviewing! XD**


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